Andover Boys Basketball’s consecutive losses to Brewster Academy and Brooks constitute of the three games where it has failed to score 60 or more points.
In its first game of the year, Andover Boys Basketball took on Brooks in an empty Borden Memorial Gym. At the end of the first half, Andover was down a mere four points, but a series of turnovers and poor communication led to a final score of 46-72. Andover’s record now stands at 3-4 for the season.
Without the usual game atmosphere with fans, the team’s performance took a toll, according to Colby Duggan ’23.
Duggan said, “It was definitely weird. It was the first home game, and there not being any fans was odd. We definitely could have brought better energy, but it was pretty mellow.”
Despite the loss, there were a couple of standout players with great defensive and offensive maneuvers. Head Coach Terrell Ivory ’00 highlighted three athletes in particular.
Coach Ivory said, “In the first half we were great, I mean we were only down by four. I would say Colby played well on both sides of the ball, offensively, [Eric Tynes PG’22] played well, and [Diego Velez ’24], a young [Lower,] also had some great plays on defense.”
Even though Andover made mistakes in the game, the team is eager to learn from them and improve upon those mishaps. According to Tynes, the team needs to be more disciplined overall and focus on moving the ball around the court more frequently on offense.
Tynes said, “Number one, we have to watch film to see what we did wrong, but definitely trying to make stronger, better passes, feed the post more, move without the ball, get better ball movement, run our plays better, and clean up things like that.”
As the season progresses, the team plans to dial in on specific strategies and techniques. According to Coach Ivory, the main stats in basketball are important, but the plays that are overlooked are the ones that can really make a difference.
Ivory said, “I would say the little things. Everybody talks about those things you read in the paper; All the stats like scoring, assists, and stuff like that. That stuff matters, but it is a byproduct of us doing the little things, like effort, communication, and not that our guys are selfish, but making selfless plays.”
Andover hopes to defeat Tabor Academy this Saturday.
