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Andover cruises past North Andover

Friday, December, 20 By Jeff Hamrick

ANDOVER – It’s often easy to see how much work a team needs while watching an early-season basketball game. And such was the case for both boys teams that matched up Friday night.

But host Andover also showed flashes of what can make the Golden Warriors a solid late-season contender.

The balanced and young Warriors opened a 16-point lead midway through third before running away from North Andover 72-53, defeating the Scarlet Knights for the first time in four outings since 2017.

“I think that’s the appropriate term,” Andover coach David Fazio said of his squad’s potential. “We showed signs, but we also showed signs of a team with a bunch of young kids trying to figure it out … But we’re going to get a lot better.”

Andover, which took the lead for good with 1:51 left in the first on a turn-around by Jack Cloutier, used 10 players in the first 6 minutes as Fazio readily moved players in and out of the lineup throughout. Seven of those 10 scored points in the opening stanza and 10 players finished with at least two points.

“That’s the plan,” Fazio said. “We want to play 10 to 11 guys. We want to play a lot of guys. It’s probably the first time in a long time that we have this depth. I just have to get confident in them and go with it and get some type of rotation.”

Kyle Rocker, one of only three seniors in the 10-man rotation, led the way in the opening half, scoring 11 of his 18 points. The Warriors, who have won all three of their games by at least 17 points, took a 35-24 lead at the half. Andover had eight assists while converting 14 of its 25 first-half shots.

“I think we’re trying to share the ball,” Fazio said. “I think we had some first-game jitters at home. I think we were a little rushed, but once we slowed down a little and played at the speed limit, we were all right.”

In the second half, 6-foot-6 sophomore Aidan Cammann took advantage of quality inlet passing to score 16 of his game-high 22 points. The Warriors opened 16-point lead on a Rocker three with 4:21 left in the third.

“We have to do a better job of getting the ball to Kyle and Aidan, but we’re rushing things,” said Fazio, who used one freshman and four sophomores among the first 10. “When we start relaxing on offense and take a deep breath and move the ball and get good shots, we’ll be fine.”

North Andover (0-2) had a couple stretches where it got back to within single digits, but the Knights were unable to overcome 27 turnovers and 34% shooting (18 of 52). Senior Kyle Moore led the way with 16 points while Matt Kutz added 15.

“There are flashes, but unfortunately they are few and far between,” said North Andover coach Paul Tanglis, who used only one player taller than 6-1. “We just have to be more consistent at both ends. We turn the ball over a lot which hurts us. There are glimpses but you have to play four quarters and right now we’re not doing that.”