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Some nights, the ball just doesn’t fall

Monday, March, 17 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

WORCESTER | The 15 points at halftime were a dead giveaway.

Andover High's bread-and-butter, the long-range jumper, had deserted the Golden Warriors in the biggest game of the year, last night's Division 1 state final with Northampton.

"That's a very good team," admired Andover coach Jim Tildsley. "They were bigger and stronger, and we were only getting one shot. That was the difference.
"And we didn't hit our shots, either."

So how did Andover, without its best weapon, facing a powerhouse, respond?
Like the champions they are. Eastern Massachusetts' finest fought and scrapped to hang in the game for over three full quarters against a team that came in off an impressive 18-point state semifinal win.

"They play really hard," said Alannah Driscoll-Sbar, the Northampton junior star. "We only had 50 points. They did a tough job on us defensively and they kept fighting."
Leading the Warriors was spunky guard Laura Renfro, who finished with a team-high 20 points.

Renfro was all over the floor, the only Golden Warrior to find her range when it mattered.

"We just couldn't find her some times," said Driscoll-Sbar. "And when we missed her, she made us pay."

Proud of their legacy
Renfro was especially proud of the mark her class left in Andover High hoop history.
Always the scholar, the Williams-bound Renfro credited the team's success on, of all things, chemistry.

"We've been playing together since elementary school," said Renfro. "We had a lot of good chemistry. It's the most important part for us. We each know how the others play; it all works together."

This Andover team has to go down as one of the most selfless ever, as well as one of the most successful. They are the fourth Andover team to make the state finals, with only the 2003 team winning it all
Renfro said she would have loved another shot at the Blue Devils.

"That team is very much like us," said Renfro. "If we had played them on a better shooting night, it might have been a different story. If we played them a lot of times, it would go both ways."

The difference last night?
Renfro pointed to the backboards.
"They had a lot of rebounding success down low and that hurt us," said Renfro. "Their defense wasn't any better than Central or Lowell, but their rebounding killed us."

Additional stories:

• Andover misses mark in final