RallyNorth.net

Andover gets its revenge on Lowell

Wednesday, March, 05 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

The third time may be a charm, but it's hardly what lifted Andover to a convincing 44-34 victory over a flustered Lowell team last night in a much-anticipated Division 1 North semifinal clash.

The Golden Warriors (21-3), who fell to Lowell in the semis the last two years, beat the Red Raiders at their own game, right around the basket, as well as all other facets of the game. As a result, they advance to Saturday's 5:45 p.m. sectional championship game against archrival Central Catholic at the Tsongas Arena.

Led by seniors Lauren Hughes (12 points, 12 rebounds) and surprising Camille Fantini (12 points, 11 rebounds), the Warriors more than controlled the paint against a taller Lowell team that features 6-foot-3 Whitney Wilson (7 points) and her 6-1 twin sister Brianna Wilson (4 points).

Meanwhile, Laura Renfro and friends more than neutralized Lowell point guard Ashley Rivera, holding the 1,000-point scorer to an extremely quiet 10 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the floor.

"Basically, they outworked us," said Rivera, whose club went 1-3 against Andover this season Lowell coach Mike Crowley was even more pointed.

"They outplayed us in all the little things, like getting loose balls, boxing out, grabbing the long rebounds | all the things you need to do to win," said Crowley, whose club bows out with a 19-3 record, all of its losses coming to Andover. "I've been saying for years that Andover is the best defensive team in the state and they proved it tonight. We had been averaging 61 points a game."

Renfro, for the third time this year, put the clamps on Rivera but, on this night, it was the inside play of Fantini and Hughes that made the difference. The Wilson twin towers only got five shots off in the first half with only two of them connecting.

Fantini was an energetic dynamo from the start and had eight of her points in the first quarter. In the frame, the Warriors forced six turnovers, allowed Lowell to get off only nine shots and zoomed to a 14-7 lead. At halftime, the inside duo | neither of whom are taller than 5-9 | combined for 15 points as the Warriors held a 23-15 advantage.

"Camille and Laura played their hearts out and I'm so proud of them," said Andover coach Jim Tildsley. "They really did a job on their big girls."

The Warriors extended their lead to 34-20 after the third quarter and seemed to have the game locked up. But eight straight points brought Lowell within seven, 35-28, with three minutes remaining. However, Meghan Thomann (10 points) hit a back-breaking 3-pointer at the 2:56 mark.

"Meghan didn't have a good shooting night (3 of 17), but that was a huge basket," said Tildsley. "You can't count Lowell out. We have a great rivalry and I'm just so happy for our seniors that we could win this game."

Andover will now set its sights on Central and red-hot 6-2 sophomore Katie Zenevitch. It will be another challenge for the undersized Warriors.

"I get more pumped up against bigger girls," said Hughes. "I have to because they're usually so much taller. She (Zenevitch) is a little different player, and really good, but at least there's only one of her."