DANVERS — St. John’s Prep basketball coach John Dullea can live with the routine as long as it produces the desired result.
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Boys Basketball, 12/27/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LOWELL — Andover High had all but snuffed out any offensive spark Central Catholic had left on this region’s grandest stage.
The
Golden Warriors, seeded first but an underdog in this one, were on the
verge of history, leading 43-38 into the fourth quarter.
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Boys Basketball, 12/20/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LOWELL — Andover High had all but snuffed out any offensive spark Central Catholic had left on this region’s grandest stage.
The
Golden Warriors, seeded first but an underdog in this one, were on the
verge of history, leading 43-38 into the fourth quarter.
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Boys Basketball, 12/20/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
WOBURN — With the clock ticking down to its final seconds, Andover’s Connor Merinder had no time consider the moment.
With the game on the line, he had to act.
“You can’t think,” said the center. “You just have to rely on your instincts. You have to be aggressive. Once I got the ball, I was never going to let it go for anything.”
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Boys Basketball, 03/04/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
ANDOVER — The word has been written on the whiteboard on the Andover High locker room, and repeated countless times in practice.
“Coach (David) Fazio keeps saying fearless,” said co-captain John Pisacreta. “We have to be fearless when we are on the court.”
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Boys Basketball, 02/28/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
.............. 2013-14 Boys Basketball team records/scoring leaders ..................................
Andover .... 19-5 D1N finals to CC who they beat in XMas and reg. season; 4th D1N final since modern tourney began '72: 14, 00, 81, 72.
Brooks ... 21-6 lost NE Prep B final; last NE title early '80s with Harold Starks
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Boys Basketball, 02/26/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
ANDOVER — With the ball his hands and the weight of the Andover team and community on his shoulders, David Giribaldi had not question in his mind.
He was going to the basket.
“I was taking the shot,” said Giribaldi. “Absolutely. I had no doubt in my mind. I was confident.”
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Boys Basketball, 02/25/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LAWRENCE — Stepping onto the court at Central Catholic’s Memorial Gym as an opponent had already fulfilled a life-long dream for E.J. Perry IV.
Growing up in Andover, surrounded by a family that lives and breaths Golden Warrior sports, the freshman had played through the scenario countless times in his head.
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Boys Basketball, 02/19/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
David Giribaldi tossed in a season-high 34 and Andover kept chugging along with a 67-47 win over 7-9 Lawrence.
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Boys Basketball, 02/11/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
ANDOVER — Come this part of February, any pulse is a good pulse. And while Andover High's conference title hopes may reside on life support, the beat goes on.
Last night before the usual lively full house of a 1,000 or so at Dunn Gymnasium, the Warriors fought off a willing group of Scarlet Knights and prevailed, 59-45, to hold on to a at least a shot at half a Merrimack Valley Conference title.
Simply put, Andover must beat Lawrence and Central Catholic in its final two league games, then hope for some help from these same Knights to pull off an upset of the Raiders.
Just the opportunity put a wide smile on coach Dave Fazio's face? Or was it something else.
"I can honestly say by this one, Game 16, that I like my basketball team," said Fazio. "There was no pretending tonight. They've bought in. That was some real defense out there. We went out and defended hard, and that was the difference this time around."
About a month ago, the Warriors may have been "pretending" a bit on the defensive end at North Andover and nearly paid the ultimate price before some last-second David Giribaldi heroics.
This was a different story, though, as Andover broke to a 10-0 lead before the home crowd, withstood a three-point third quarter and allowed Giribaldi to seal the deal with 12 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth.
"Offensively, we're still an absolute mystery," said Fazio. who saw the Warriors grind to a halt in the 3-point third only to flow like the Shawsheen on a spring morning with 26 points in the fourth."
"We've got the freshman (E.J. Perry IV) and we've got an absolute killer at the two guard (in Giribaldi), but after that we're still trying to find ourselves. We lose (center Connor Merinder) at times, and that really hurts us."
What the Warriors are certainly, with the Division 1 North tourney right around the corner, is dangerous. And the challenge of facing them is something first year North Andover coach Paul Tanglis was looking forward to.
"Competing with Andover in an atmosphere like this will only help us," said Tanglis, whose club made its run in the third, slicing the lead from 14 down to 5 ar 33-28 heading to the fourth. "We battled back, but we put ourselves in a hole because we just didn't value every possession."
Senior John Pisacreta helped keep the Warriors afloat through quarters two and three, tossing in 15 points. Merinder had just six points but was again a horse on the backboards.
John Enright paced the 11-5 Knights with 16 points and Brett Daley fought through some nasty foul trouble to finish with 10.
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Boys Basketball, 02/07/14 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
