RallyNorth.net

Thu, Feb 28, 2008 07:00 PM @ Andover

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Playoff Game Division 1 North -Quarterfinals
Malden	3	13	8	13	37
Andover	19	22	25	5	71

Andover steamrolls Malden to earn another shot at Lowell

Friday, February, 29 By Peter A. Martin
Staff writer

The high-octane offense and outside shooting of Andover basketball were on display again last night as the Golden Warriors moved on in the Division 1 North tournament with a 71-37 win over Malden.

For the Warriors, their attention now turns to their semifinal matchup with Lowell, which advanced with a 61-45 win over Methuen. In three contests this season the Warriors have a 2-1 edge over the Red Raiders, winning the last contest 36-34, and a similar defensive battle is anticipated.

The last two years Lowell has ousted the Blue and Gold in the semis.

"We are looking forward to a tight defensive game," said Andover coach Jim Tildsley. "It is an unbelievable rivalry and it will be the fourth time we have seen each other this year, so there won't be a lot of surprises."

Last night's game was over early.

"We played a heck of a first half," said Tildsley, whose team notched its 20th win of the year. "We got out to a great start and never looked back."

Andover had a commanding 19-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, and pushed it to 41-16 at the half thanks to some deadly outside shooting. Laura Renfro led the way in that department, going 4-for-7 from downtown on her way to a game-leading 15 points. Renfro accomplished that feat in only three quarters as the Andover starting five sat for the fourth.

"There is a big group of seniors on this team and we knew this was our last chance to play on this floor," said Renfro. "It was a great closing note for us, and we are very proud of the way we played."

Fellow senior Meghan Thomann also helped out the cause, hitting two 3-pointers on her way to 10 points and a team high six rebounds. Illana Cohen provided a spark off the bench and was the only other Golden Warrior in double figures, scoring 10 points.

The Warriors were a red-hot 9-of-19 (.474) from behind the arc and 28-for-49 overall from the floor (.571).

Andover was equally effective at the other end of the court. "Our man-to-man defense was great tonight," said Tildsley. "We work on it a ton in practice and we are very good at it. That was the difference tonight, we played a much better defensive game."

The biggest boost to the defense came from freshman point guard Natalie Gomez-Martinez, who had four steals to go along with nine points and six assists. She was very active stopping entry passes and forcing Malden's guards to make bad decisions.