After a close 60-54 loss to Thayer Academy last Friday, Will Sherrill ’07 and Matt Silva ’07 each scored 23 points to lead Andover to a 74-71 victory over Governor Dummer on Monday. Sherrill and Bryan Lee ’06 were unable to lead Andover to a victory over Tabor on Wednesday, losing 51-45. On Friday night, the Big Blue looked to end its losing streak against a very good Thayer team, but unfortunately suffered another close defeat. Like the previous games during its five game losing streak, the Big Blue played a very good first half and kept in the game. Going into the locker room, Thayer had a slight advantage with a 29-26 lead. In the second half, Thayer extended its lead but Andover clawed back into the game with a late flurry. However, it was too little too late, and Andover fell 60-54 to stretch the losing streak to six games. In the loss, Sherrill, Silva, and Lee played exceptional games. Sherrill led Andover with 19 points and also recorded five steals. Silva had a double-double scoring 14 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Lee added in 13 points of his own. On Monday, the Big Blue traveled to Governor Dummer, hoping to end the six game skid, and did just that with the 74-71 victory. Andover started slowly as GDA jumped out to an early 8-0 lead several minutes into the game and held that lead up until halftime. Andover went into the half trailing 36-30. In the second half, Andover erased the deficit multiple times but GDA always seemed to come up with a big shot to keep Andover at bay. In the final minutes, Andover finally broke through and took a 71-70 lead with 47 seconds left. Six seconds later, GDA sunk a free throw to tie the game. Andover got the ball with 41 seconds remaining to set up a winning shot. Andover had trouble setting up a play against tenacious GDA defense, but Sherrill drained a long jump shot to put Andover ahead. Sherrill finished with a season high 23 points and 15 rebounds in the game. GDA was unable to score on the following possession, and Brendan Gallagher ’06 capped off the game by sinking a free throw with a few seconds left to seal the 74-71 victory, thus ending Andover’s six game losing streak. In addition to the superb play of Sherrill, Silva scored a season high 23 points, including four three-pointers. Silva also came up with five assists and four steals. Strong individual play also came from Lee and Chris Bramwell ’07. Lee had 13 and an impressive eight assists, and Bramwell added ten points and three assists. Tom Tassinari ’06 also had four points and eight rebounds. The Big Blue overcame seven three pointers and 29 total points by GDA’s star player to win. On Wednesday, Andover traveled to Tabor without Silva, who injured his wrist in the final seconds of the GDA game after being flagrantly fouled. Andover fell behind 36-22 at halftime but battled back in the second half and Tabor held a slim 46-44 advantage with 1:39 remaining. A late Tabor three-pointer and several missed Andover shots sealed Tabor’s victory. Andover takes a break until next Friday against NMH when, hopefully, Captain Joey Lokitis ’06 and Silva will both be back.
