Saturday 1/20 – Andover: 57, Deerfield: 26
Andover Girls Basketball (3-7) won in a dominant performance against Deerfield on Saturday. Andover hit six threes in the game, a season-high, while also shooting 70 percent from the free throw line.
According to Co-Captain Leila Boesch-Powers ’24, the beginning of the game was crucial to the team’s success, as teammates placed great emphasis on starting with strength. She highlighted Co-Captain Valerie Ha ’24 for helping the team seize an early advantage.
Boesch-Powers said, “As a team, we’ve been talking about setting the tone of the game early. So, I would say Valerie’s breakaway layup at the very beginning of the game was a great energy booster and set the tone of our game early.”
Anni Juusela ’24 shared a similar sentiment to Boesch-Powers, stressing the importance of establishing good energy at the start of the game.
Juusela said, “I think it was a very important thing that we started off the game with such good energy. We went hard from the first minute and that really set the tone for the whole game. It was a great start and that was a crucial part of the game, I think. Even though we had the lead, we really kept on working hard in each possession, and we had the mindset that every possession matters.”
According to Head Coach Jennifer Weissbach, teamwork has been crucial for the team in every game this season. For her, the win against Deerfield was a collective effort more than anything else.
“Teamwork is everything. We’ve been working hard this season to build the culture the way we want it to be. Incredibly proud of how the kids have bought into my vision for the program and also bought into each other. I think our win against Deerfield was the epitome of a full-team win. Everyone got playing time, everyone contributed on the floor, and I think the energy in the gym was special,” said Weissbach.
Boesch-Powers noted that on the offensive side, finishing was a notable strength, while on the defensive end, the team excelled in stealing the ball and defending the paint.
Boesch-Powers said, “We took and made some really good shots and we attacked the basket very well, making some great layups. We also played very tough defense, getting a lot of steals and preventing them from making a lot of shots near the rim.”
Following the game, Weissbach discussed the team’s focus for practices this week.
“We are working hard on I would say a couple things, but things we’re prioritizing are finding ways to ensure that we take care of the ball. We need to limit turnovers as much as possible, and the team is working really hard to find ways to get open, find ways to make great passes, and find ways to set up their teammates for success. we’re continuing to work on execution. So, knocking down shots, running our plays through, and hitting screens are all things that we’ve been working on all season and especially the last week,” said Weissbach.
Andover Girls Basketball will face Kimball Union Academy at home on Saturday and Brooks away on Wednesday.
