ANDOVER 51, ST. FRANCIS 46
Andover failed to score the first the first 6:24 of the game but overcame that sluggish start to beat 7AAAA neighbor and host St. Francis 51-46 Monday night. It was new coach Blake Nicols’ first win for the Huskies. After getting into an 11-0 hole, the Huskies managed to narrow the gap to 24-23 after three 3s from on top of the St. Francis 2/3 zone by sophomore reserve point guard Alyssa Gerth. Andover used the long ball to get back in the game. Their first points came on a 3 by junior Emily Diemer. They made seven in the first half with sophomore Kylie Schowcraft connecting from the left side on their last possession of the half to make it 29-26. The Saints had one more possession too and Danah Ocsan matched that three from the top to give the hosts a 32-26 lead.
The Saints stretched that lead to nine early in the second half on another Ocsan 3 (35-26), but they only managed to score 11 more points over the course of the next 15:25. The next 4:43 saw Andover go on a 14-1 run to grab their first lead 40-39. Instrumental in the push was junior Sydney White with nine of her game high 23 points. SF had one more lead at 41-40, and that score remained the same for about three minutes. Annie Fiene scored from the elbow to put Andover up for good (42-41). Fiene left the game later due to injury. Emily Schildhauer connected from beyond the arc for a 45-41 lead. There was still plenty of time with over six minutes left. Neither offenses were sizzling. With 38.7 ticks left on the clock SF took a time out with the ball trailing 49-46. A misfired three was the result. White tacked on a pair of free throws for the final margin with 18.9 left.
The prime difference in the game was the arc. The Huskies delivered nine 3s with five different players contributing. Scoring behind the arc accounted for 27 of their points (52.9%). Five of those 3s came off the bench. SF had no transition game with only three attempts on the night and coming up empty each time. Andover was 3/8 in transition. SF was better at the blocks going 7/19 compared to Andover’s 3/12.
Andover is now 1-1, St. Francis is searching for their first win at 0-4.
I haven’t forgotten about the Breakdown games from Hopkins on Saturday. I plan to attack them tomorrow.
| ANDOVER | ST. FRANCIS | |
| POINTS | 51 | 46 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 43/12 | 35/8 |
| TURNOVERS | 24 | 21 |
| FTA/% | 13/61.5 | 15/66.7 |
| 2FG%/3FG% | 28.6/36.0 | 33.3/25.0 |
| PP100 | 69.9 | 63.0 |
| TOP SCORER | Sydney White 23 | Anna Schultz 16 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Sydney White of Andover with 23 points, 100 pp100, and a 34 in the 31 Club