Captain Joey Lokitis ’06 returned to the lineup, but the Andover Boys Basketball team still lost two hard fought games against Northfield Mt. Hermon and Deerfield, 66-52 and 60-55 respectively. On Friday night, the Big Blue took on the perennial powerhouse NMH. Andover kept the game very close unlike years past and was in the game up until the end. Andover came out blazing as Captain Lokitis lit up the NMH defense for an early lead. In his first game back after suffering a calf injury, Captain Lokitis looked like he had not missed a step. Unfortunately, the NMH attack proved too powerful for the Big Blue to hold down forever. The Big Blue kept consistently attacked, however, and kept the game very close. Andover’s defense was also able to slow the NMH attack and keep the game low scoring. At the half, NMH had a 30-24 lead. The second half opened much like the first, with the Big Blue playing very solid offense and a very aggressive defense. Captain Lokitis and Will Sherrill ’07 led the offense in the second half. The Big Blue stayed very close up until the closing minutes when NMH took over and pulled away, finishing with a 66-52 win over Andover. The return of Captain Lokitis was most notably felt on the offensive end, where he led all scorers with 23 points. Uppers, Chris Bramwell ’07 and Sherrill also contributed greatly to the Big Blue. Sherrill had nine points and 12 rebounds, while Bramwell had five points and six assists. Bramwell said, “They were a very talented team and we played hard, but we couldn’t put it together in the end.” The Big Blue looked to rebound in its next game against Deerfield on Wednesday and hoped to avenge a disappointing loss to Deerfield earlier in the season.The Big Blue controlled the game from the opening tip and jumped out to an earlier lead. The Andover offense, once again led by Captain Lokitis, dominated the Deerfield defense in the first half. Sherrill also had a great first half offensively. Bryan Lee ’06 had a terrific game, playing very tough defense and contributing on the offensive end.In the second half, the Big Blue opened up its lead to as many as 16 points as it seemingly ran away with the game. Deerfield, however, fought very hard and battled its way back into the game. This coupled with very cold Andover shooting was recipe for trouble. With just under six minutes to play in the game, Deerfield finally overcame the deficit and tied the game. Deerfield eventually passed the Big Blue and held out for a 60-55 win.
