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Andover cruises past Lawrence in Christmas Tourney opener

Thursday, December, 22 By Jeff Hamrick

If North Andover coach Sue Breen was hoping to get a scouting report on her Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney semifinal opponent, she was out of luck as Andover’s starters were needed for less than five minutes.
If there were any concerns how the Golden Warriors (4-0) would respond returning to the court less than 24 hours after a 66-52 victory over Archbishop Williams, they were quickly erased.
Even playing without senior guard Ally Fazio, who woke up yesterday with a left eye swollen shut from an elbow taken the night before, Andover forced turnovers on 11 of Lawrence’s first 13 possessions and scored the game’s first 17 points.
Andover coach Jim Tildsley said, “They’re in good shape, and they know what they have to do. We came out firing and hit all our shots. In three minutes we were up by 17 points, so I thought it was time to let the other kids play and rest the starters.”
The only starter to see any court time after the quick start was sophomore Rebecca Alois, who scored a team-high nine points while replacing Fazio. Alois was joined by a few other youngsters as she, sophomore Jessica Witten (8), and freshmen Rachael Cormier (6) and Talia Dellatto (4) combined to score 27 points.
“This was good,” Tildsley said. “I thought our young kids got a lot out of it, and I thought they played well.”
Lawrence (0-3) got eight points from Kiara Rodriguez and six from Elisandra Valentin.
“That’s the best team in the state,” Lawrence coach Dan Blouin said of the two-time defending state champs. “We knew it, our kids knew they were going to come out fast. They’re going to press and they’re going to run, that’s their game plan. I told my kids it doesn’t matter who we’re playing out there ... don’t quit.”
The win set up a rare encounter with North Andover on Tuesday.
“North Andover is well coached,” Tildsley said. “My former assistant (Megan Pinksten) is now their JV coach, so she knows us very well. She knows our program, and this is a rivalry so we’ll have to be ready to go.”