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Andover picks it up in the second half, downs Cambridge

Friday, February, 27 By David Willis
Staff writer

ANDOVER — As a frustrated Andover girls basketball team made its way the locker room at halftime, the Golden Warriors knew something had to change.

“We looked around and knew that our season could be over in an hour,” said senior Rachael Cormier. “It hurt to think that it could end here, and we were not going to let that happen.”

Leading by just three points after two quarters, No. 2 seed Andover turned in a dominant second half effort led by star forward Alyssa Casey, as the Golden Warriors downed No. 15 Cambridge Rindge and Latin 67-43 Friday night at the Dunn Gym.

“The first half we struggled, I struggled,” said Casey, who scored 16 of her 20 points after the break. “We sat in the locker room at halftime and pumped each other up, and in the second half we played outstanding. We were hustling and everyone did what needed to be done.”

Andover (19-2) now advances to host No. 7 North Andover (16-5) in the Division 1 North quarterfinals on Monday at 7 p.m. The Warriors are 2-1 against the Scarlet Knights this winter, including a victory in the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Tourney final.

“We are so excited to play North Andover again,” said guard Talia Dellatto. “We know they are an extremely tough opponent, but we are going to go out there and give everything we can to win.”

A trip to take on the Knights was far from a sure thing after 16 minutes, as the Warriors struggled on both ends and were tied with Cambridge late in the first half.

“Our shots weren’t falling and we were committing way too many fouls,” said Cormier. “The long wait from the end of the regular season (9 days) seemed to hurt us. We needed to rebound and play defense.”

The Warriors wasted no time displaying the fire that had been absent as the second half kicked off.

Colleen Caveney opened the third with a steal, was fouled and hit two free throws. Cormier then pressed the ball, made a steal and delivered the pass to Casey for a hoop as Andover opened the third on an 11-2 run.

Casey continued to dominate the undersized Falcons in the paint. She drove to the hole for a layup, and grabbed a rebound and sunk the put-back to end the third, then swishing a jumper to begin the fourth, giving the Golden Warriors a double-digit lead for good.

While Casey starred, the always-reliable Caveney also heated up.

The senior guard finished with 16 points, including six crucial points in the fourth as the Warriors closed Cambridge out.

“Colleen is just amazing,” said Cormier, who had eight steals. “She is such a great leader. She calmed us down and got us back together and we can always rely on her.”

Dellatto, Andover’s spark off the bench, added two second-half 3-pointers to go with aggressive defense. Despite foul trouble, Jillian Webber added eight points and 10 rebounds and Carissa Reming had a big 3-pointer.

“A lot of girls stepped up when we needed them to,” said Dellatto. “Carissa had that big 3, and Rachael had some huge steals. We just had to focus and give our heart out there.”

Andover must now contend with a North Andover squad that dealt it one of its two losses this season, and who the Golden Warriors have twice beaten by seven points.

“It is going to be a very competitive game,” said Casey. “But we are going to work as hard as we can to prepare for this game.”