Andover Girls Basketball redeemed itself after a third place finish at the Winter Tournament at Rivers with two consecutive wins over Choate and Brewster.
Andover beat Choate 44-33 in a hard-fought, well-played match on the first Saturday back from Winter Break and went on to crush Brewster 62-41 in its most recent game on Wednesday.
Andover’s defense came out strong in the first half against Brewster, allowing only 20 points while scoring 38 to give the team an 18-point lead at halftime.
Andover’s offense wasn’t as strong in the second half, only scoring 25 points to Brewster’s 21.
Highlighting Andover’s performance, especially in the second half, was Maggie Brown ’13, who scored 28 points on the day.
“Defenders kept trying to get hands in her face, but she still stayed composed and managed to knock down a bunch of threes which helped us in winning the game,” said Katie Kreider ’14.
“We’re finally starting to gel as a team, which feels awesome,” said Captain Amanda Simard ’13. “I don’t remember a time that I’ve enjoyed playing basketball as much as I do now.”
The two wins are much-needed for both the team’s record and its morale going forward, especially after its disappointing results in the Rivers Tournament over Winter Break.
The team won 42-40 against Taft in the tournament, but lost 52-45 against NMH.
“We didn’t feel particularly good about either of our tournament games, but the Loomis Chaffee game showed promise, and we took that intensity and are bringing it back into our games now,” said Kreider.
The team took on Loomis in the season opener before the tournament and won 59-54.
After being down nine at half, Loomis outscored Andover 34-30 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to earn a victory.
The key offensive contributors were Brown, point guard Giovanna Pickering ’13, and Kreider, who scored 16, 14 and 12 points respectively.
Against Choate, Victoria Everett ’14 and Giovanna Pickering ’13 led in scoring with nine points each and combined for 10 offensive rebounds.
Assistant Coach Christopher Jones said, “We were led by a superb effort at both ends of the floor by team captain Amanda Simard, who incidentally was playing on her birthday. She had a crucial six points.”
Andover will play Milton at home on Saturday.
