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Masco girls oust Andover

Saturday, March, 01 By Gianna Addario

TOPSFIELD — Since the Masconomet girls basketball team moved up to Division 1 four years ago, Andover has staked its claim as the Chieftains main nemesis come tournament time.  
The Golden Warriors sent Masconomet home at the Tsongas Arena two years ago and since then it's been the Chieftains mission to return the favor.  
The host Chieftains understood what they were going up against on Saturday. They scrimmaged Andover in the preseason, watched film and even took in Andover's victory over Lynn Classical last Thursday night. To say the Chieftains were ready for this quarterfinals matchup would've been an understatement.
For the first time ever Masconomet was able to walk out of the gym victorious after a landmark, 52-47 win.
The win sends the Chieftains to the semifinals and will take on another Merrimack Valley Conference powerhouse, Central Catholic.
"We got to see exactly how they play and how we had to approach the game," said junior Kate Kitsakos, who had a game-high 18 points. "Most of preparation was on defense and we each had a different role."
Masco's (21-1) defensive presence was felt holding Andover (16-6) to just four points in the second quarter.
The other big difference was Kitsakos' heroics, right down to her final steal of the game at the buzzer.
Kitsakos added four rebounds and two other steals to get her team to the next round.
"She was everywhere, just phenomenal," Masco head coach Bob Romeo said of Kitsakos. "Kate has been tremendous this year and doesn't get enough recognition for what she does.
"What she was able to do, covering Colleen Caveney and getting her 18 points— just crazy hustle."
Masconomet led by five, 18-15 at the half after Kitsakos hit back-to-back layups to end the second quarter.
The Chieftains had its best scoring quarter of the game in the third, dropping in 18 and went up 36-28.
Andover got back into it in the fourth after Jessica Witten hit a contested three-point to cut the deficit to three.
Warrior freshman Alyssa Casey was on fire in the fourth quarter, knocking down two-three pointer to make 42-40 Masco with two minutes to play.
"It was a tremendous game and tremendous effort by both teams," said Andover head coach E.J. Perry, who's in his first season with the Warriors. "My team did everything they could to get it two and then Masco just responded."
The Chieftains wrapped up the the game going 6-for-8 from the line to pull out the win.
Junior point guard Meghan Collins had 10 points, Hannah Kiernan, Stephanie Mini Nicole Femino all had seven.
For Andover, Casey had a team-high 14 points, while Caveney and Witten both added nine.