Xavier Abreu ’25 shoots his shot.
1/11 – Andover: 51, Choate: 67
1/14 – Andover: 65, Brooks: 64
1/15 – Andover 71, Worcester: 76
The Boy’s Basketball team had a busy week, with three games in five days against Choate, Brooks, and Worcester Academy. The team fell to Choate on Saturday, returned to their winning ways with a nail-biting win against Brooks on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, the team barely lost in a shootout against Worcester.
After the loss on Saturday, Xavier Abreu ’25 said the team struggled to stay focused. Additionally, he mentioned that the team learned from their mistakes and was ready to strike back in the games ahead.
Abreu said, “Unfortunately, our game against Choate was not our best performance. We lacked focus and just could not get the job done… We are handling it well and just using that game to really push harder in practice and in our next game on Monday.”
Additionally, Jake Saalfrank ’25 mentioned that in their preparation for the game on Tuesday, the team focused on their defensive struggles in their Saturday game while also focusing on some offensive concepts, leading them to their victory against Brooks.
“Following our loss at Choate, we knew we had to step it up defensively, especially with our help defense, so that was a big focus during practice. We also focused on moving without the ball on offense in our preparations. This really showed today because we were very improved,” said Saalfrank.
The high-scoring clash between Andover and Worcester was electrified by astounding plays that energized the stadium. Rex Corkins ’25 highlighted David Fridia ’25 and Abreu for their standout performances.
Corkins said, “There were a couple times where David had some nice blocks. He really just got up and made big swats which kind of brought the whole place up. Everyone was ready to go. I think mostly our defense was what was bringing us energy, and of course, also can’t forget X [Xavier], hitting a lot of big threes, especially in the first half.”
Reflecting on the atmosphere of the games he has played so far, Saalfrank noted that the energy from the bench has been a significant factor in the team’s performance. He acknowledged the limited number of active players but emphasized their crucial role on the team.
Saalfrank said, “Only having six guys playing means that there were many people on the bench. They were energetic during the whole game. They helped let guys know what was open, and what they saw. The energy was through the roof. Any time someone hit a shot, they got up, jumped around; they were all just loud, which helped us a lot.”
Coming off the victory on Tuesday, the boys went right back at it on Wednesday, but suffered a tough loss. Rex Corkins ‘25 described that the team’s focus for the next week is to get healthy and learn from their mistakes during their games this week.
Corkins ’25 said, “We have got to get healthy; that is the main thing that we have to do. We have a lot of guys who are hurt right now; we played against Brooks with six guys and against Worcester with only seven. We are going to watch film and rest to get ready for our game on Saturday.”
Boys Basketball will play against Tabor Academy on Saturday at home.
