Although Andover Boys Basketball had the lead against Brooks going into the second half on Saturday, the team ended up falling 52-57. The team also lost in the final seconds of a nail-biting game against Deerfield on Wednesday. These two losses lowered Andover’s record to 6-14 before going into the Exeter game this Saturday. Against Brooks, Andover’s ball movement in the first half allowed the team to score points at will. But in the second half, Andover started to take low-percentage shots, and the ball movement that brought them success was almost non-existent. “I think we let the lead get to our head. We thought we could just score at will, and we stopped running the offense, which is what lead to our demise,” said Germaine Wright ’14. On Wednesday, Andover suffered another close loss 54-57 at Deerfield. Andover once again had the lead going into the second half, but a scuffle broke out which shifted the momentum in the game. Deerfield began to hit its stride, and consecutive three-pointers allowed them to pull ahead. With Deerfield up by five and under a minute to go, Captain Brendan O’Connell ’13 scored a crucial three-pointer to make it a one possession game. After hitting three free throws, Deerfield led by three with 10 seconds left. Andover put all its hopes in the team’s sharpshooter, Greg Devlin ’14, who barely missed sending the game into overtime. “We were feeling very good coming out of the locker room with a lead at halftime. But I feel like Deerfield tried to knock us off our game by trying to get too physical. We got away from our game plan which led us to losing our lead,” said Jake Howell ’14. Kene Adigwe ’14 played well and led the team with 12 points. “I think there are a lot of positives that we can take out of this game and bring them to Exeter on Saturday. But, on the other hand, we definitely have things to work on during practice this week,” said Adigwe. “Our team can definitely be a formidable opponent when we run the offense; we just have to work out all the kinks during practice.” Andover looks to finish its season on a high note against Exeter this Saturday.
