RallyNorth.net

Andover Golden Warriors Girls Basketball '14-'15

Mon, Mar 02, 2015 07:00 PM @ Andover
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
North Andover 15 4 4 17 40
Andover 20 19 16 9 64

Andover rolls over North Andover in Division 1 North quarterfinals

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Monday, March, 02 By David Willis
Staff writer

ANDOVER — As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Alyssa Casey and her fellow Andover High starters sat comfortably on the bench, exchanging hugs and preparing to charge the court and celebrate with their teammates.

“To not be in the game, and to be sitting and watching it happen was such an amazing moment,” said Casey. “We came into this game knowing in our hearts that it was going to be a special day, and look what happened.”

Long before the final buzzer sounded, the celebration had commenced on the Andover bench, the culmination of a nearly perfect night for the Golden Warriors.

“We knew that we could do this because we were so determined,” said senior point guard Rachael Cormier. “We just want to keep the season going. I thought we were going to outplay North Andover, but I didn’t think we would outplay them by this much.”

Once again led by Casey and fellow sophomore Jillian Webber, No. 2 seed Andover used a dominant second quarter to take a 20-point lead, and from their cruised to a 64-40 victory over No. 7 North Andover in the Division 1 North quarterfinals on Monday at the Dunn Gym.

“It just feels incredible,” said Webber. “We have worked so hard, we took the right mindset and we just wanted this game so bad. It is really surreal to win like this.”

The Golden Warriors now advance to face No. 3 Chelmsford in the Division 1 North semifinals. No date or location had been officially announced Monday night, but speculation was that it would be on Thursday at Whittier.

“We can’t wait to play,” said Webber. “We have beaten them once this season. We know it will be a battle, but we feel like we can come out on top.”

Andover had reason to be confident after Wednesday’s decisive victory over North Andover, a squad that had beaten them once this fall and who the Warriors twice beat by seven points.

“North Andover is a great team who has battled us each time we played them this season,” said senior guard Carissa Reming. “We knew them, and they knew us, and we knew how hard we hard to work to prepare for them. So to win like this is amazing.”

The game looked to be a slugfest after a quarter, with Andover leading just 20-15 on a Webber jumper in the final seconds.

But, from there, it was all Andover.

The Golden Warriors allowed the Scarlet Knights just one basket in each of the second and third quarter — leading 39-19 at halftime and 55-23 after three quarters — the Knights managed two hoops against the Andover backups in the fourth.

“We were confident but not too confident,” said senior Talia Dellatto. “We knew that when we lost to them earlier in the season our minds weren’t totally in the game. So we were focused this time, and everyone stepped up.”

Casey was simply dominant against the undersized Knights. She scored a game-high 22 points, 13 of those in the first half, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots. She also showed off her outside game, knocking down four 3-pointers.

“Alyssa was amazing like she always is,” said Webber. “She just has a knack for finding the open sports and making the shots. She is great.”

Webber starred in her own right, scoring 14 points and ruling the boards with 15 rebounds. She scored 10 of her points in the first half as the Warriors were pulling away.

“Jillian is just terrific,” said Casey. “We are so close on and off the court I think it gives us an edge against other teams’ bigs. It’s almost telekinesis we know each other so well.”

Always reliable guard Colleen Caveney added 15 points, while spark plug Dellatto added seven points and provided huge minutes off the bench with her tenacious defense.

The Warriors now advance to play a Chelsmford (19-3) squad that they beat 45-41 in the regular season on a late Dellatto steal and basket.

“We know that it is going to be a very tough game,” said Casey. “But we are going to battle as hard as we did tonight and do everything we can to win.”

Game Statistics:

North Andover (40): Niral Lougbo 1 1-6 3, Leah Chittick 3 6-9 13, Abbie Karalis 1 3-6 5, Emily Sifferlen 3 6-9 12, Rachel Davies 1 0-0 2, Megan Lucy 0 2-2 2, Moassia Bede 1 0-0 2, Sophia Meyers 0 1-2 1, Grace Liporto 0 0-0 0, Alexiz Mencia 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 19-34-40

Andover (64): Colleen Caveney 7 1-2 15, Alyssa Casey 9 0-0 22, Jillian Webber 6 2-2 14, Talia Dellatto 3 1-2 7, Rachael Cormier 1 0-0 3, Caileigh Reming 1 0-0 3, Carissa Reming 0 0-0 0, Julia Perry 0 0-0 0, Meghan Stickney 0 0-0 0, Paige Hartnett 0 0-0 0, Tori Roche 0 0-0 0, Emily Connors 0 0-0 0, Kayla Kobelski 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Bernardin 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 4-6 64

3-pointers: A — Casey 4, Cormier, Caleigh Reming; NA — Chittick

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