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Casey, Andover rally to win Christmas Tourney title

Monday, December, 29 By David Willis
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Andover co-captain Rachael Cormier did everything she could to subdue her excitement.

“Once we stole the ball with about 30 seconds left and were just passing it around I was trying so hard not to smile, but I was just so happy,” said the point guard. “We were down, but we just had to play the best five minutes of our lives, and once we finally put it together we pulled it off.”

Trailing by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter, and by a point with just over two minutes to play, the Golden Warriors surged back behind huge plays by Cormier and star forward Alyssa Casey in the final frame to rally for a 69-62 victory over North Andover to win the Commonwealth Motors Stephenson Division title.

It was the second straight Christmas Tourney title for the Warriors, who won the Hyde Division crown last winter.

“There are no words to describe how amazing this was,” said Casey, who scored a team-high 25 points to earn tourney MVP honors. “We found a way to overcome the deficit and win the championship. We feel like we deserved it.”

Andover led 14-11 after one quarter, but that was when North Andover erupted.

The second period saw the Scarlet Knights catch fire from deep, as Abbie Karalis knocked down three 3-pointers all from the corner and Megan Collins and Nirel Lougbo each added treys to give the Knights a 36-31 advantage at the break.

Then it was the Leah Chittick show in the third, as the North Andover senior scored 10 points in the quarter to give her Knights a 56-48 lead heading into the fourth.

“In the second and third quarter we fell into a funk,” said Casey. “I don’t think we knew how to deal with it because it hadn’t happened to us before. But our bench was yelling, the fans were going crazy and we broke out of it.”

Cormier kicked off the fourth quarter rally by knocking down a jumper, then moments later gave the Golden Warriors the lead with an aggressive drive to the basket.

“I realized that they weren’t going to guard the middle,” said Cormier, who scored a season-high 14 points. “They were mostly focused on Colleen (Caveney) and Alyssa, like a lot of teams are. I wanted to show I could play too.”

North Andover retook the lead on a Chittick hoop. But Cormier tied the game with a free throw, Casey posted up for a bucket and then grabbed a rebound and threw a perfect outlet pass to Jillian Webber for a breakaway layup to make the score 64-60.

One more hoop by Cormier and a basket and free throw by Casey and the Warriors had locked down the title.

“It is just so awesome,” said starting guard Carissa Reming. “We have worked so hard through so many hours of practice and it paid off. The crowd really boosted our energy, and it was really unbelievable. I think a lot of people underestimated us going into this season.”

Cormier and Casey each scored seven points in the fourth to lead the comeback, while Caveney scored all 10 of her points in the second half and Webber added nine.

Andover sixth man Talia Dellatto added huge energy off the bench, scoring 11 points and firce defense when the Warriors were struggling mightily.

“We knew that we could win this game,” said Caveney. “We just had to find the intensity. The crowd was going crazy, and we play our best when the pressure is on.”

Chittick led the upset effort for North Andover with a team-high 20 points, while Karalis added 15 points.

“That is a tough team, but we honestly never felt like we were going to lose,” said Cormier. “We knew that we had worked for this, and we knew what we had to do. We just put the pieces together, and we ended up with a pretty nice plaque.”

All-tourney honors

Andover’s Alyssa Casey (MVP), Rachael Cormier and Colleen Caveney were named to the All-Tournament team, along with North Andover’s Leah Chittick, Abbie Karalis and Nirel Lougbo.

Carissa Remming won the Coaches Award for the Golden Warriors, and Megan Collins took the honors for the Scarlet Knights.