RallyNorth.net

Fri, Dec 30, 2016 08:00 PM @ Andover

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Bishop Guertin	9	15	6	13	43
Andover	9	7	13	16	45

Andover tops BG for Commonwealth title

Saturday, December, 23 By Kyle Gaudette

NORTH ANDOVER — As her team jumped and hugged each other at center court when the final buzzer went off, Alyssa Casey fell to her knees in joy.

When Andover’s celebration realized it was short one, the Warriors ran back over to the bench to hug their senior co-captain, who was so overcome with emotion she had trouble even speaking.

Casey was in far-too-familiar territory as the final seconds of Andover’s Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic championship showdown with New Hampshire’s Bishop Guertin counted down.

Last year she was a cheerleader on the bench as an injury kept her sidelined for all but one game. Friday night Casey fouled out with over two minutes left and her team trailing, forcing her to yet again sit and watch.

But this time, Casey watched her team step up in stunning fashion.

Sophomore Gia Bramanti drove to the basket, was fouled and hit the go-ahead free throws with just three seconds left on the clock to give Andover a 45-43 victory over Bishop Guertin in the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic.

“It was just a whole lot of emotions that overcame me,” said Casey. “It’s my senior year and it just couldn’t have gotten any better in that moment.”

With Casey out, Bramanti took the game on her shoulders. With 24.7 seconds left in regulation, the 3-point marksman drove to the hoop and scored a basket and the ensuing free throw to give Andover the lead. BG tied it up, setting up more Bramanti heroics.

“I can’t say enough about my teammates,” said Casey. “I’m so proud of everybody who stepped up tonight. They truly were everything that I couldn’t be tonight and were just so incredible. Every one of them.”

Hoops for Hope champions — check.

Fall Ball champions — Check.

And now the Christmas Tournament, completing the 2016 trifecta before the calendar changes and everyone starts their run for the playoffs.

“In our locker room we literally have checklist set up for us,” said Casey. “We had Hoops for Hope, fall ball league, Christmas Tournament, MVC’s and state championship. And we are checking them all off one by one.”

Casey finished with 11 points, but was forced to leave with Andover down 39-34. And her teammates were there to pick up the slack.

From Taylor Landry and Aislinn McMahon hitting clutch 3-pointers down the stretch, to Caroline McDonald and Shea Krekorion grabbing what seemed like every rebound in crunch time, to Bramanti getting the and-1 to put the Warriors up 43-40, Andover made every play it needed to when it mattered.

Bramanti, who finished with 11 points, followed in the Christmas Tournament tradition of her brother, former Andover boys great Joe. The older Bramanti was the tournament MVP in 2010, and is No. 9 on the all-time boys scoring list with 174 points.

“I was like ‘I’m driving this through that girl,’” said a smiling Bramanti. “We needed someone to step up and I felt like coach and the team were depending on me.

“I didn’t hear anything in the crowd on those final free throws. It was just going back to my roots where my brother was in those situations when he was in the Christmas tournament. You just got to cancel that noise out and work hard through it.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise for Andover was the play of junior Caroline McDonald, who was forced into the starting rotation due to injuries during the semifinal game against North Andover, and delivered Friday with 11 huge points and 10 rebounds.

“It was the best game of her career,” said Andover coach E.J. Perry III. “Caroline was outstanding tonight.”

Asked what got into her, she gave a simple answer.

“We had to win this for our seniors,” said McDonald. “Our seniors mean everything to us on this team. It was really important that we pulled this through, and it’s an amazing feeling to have done it.”

Andover returns to action Tuesday against Methuen, and you can bet the Warriors already have the next item on their to-do list fresh in their heads.

“MVC’s next,” said Casey. “Then after that we’ll move on to the next thing.”

All-Tournament Team

Emily Bramanti, Westford

Emily Sifferlen, North Andover

Meghan Cramb, Bishop Guertin

Gia Bramanti, Andover

*Alyssa Casey, Andover

*denotes tournament MVP

Andover 45, Bishop Guertin 43

Andover (45): Shea Krekorian 0-0-0, Taylor Landry 2-3-8, Caroline McDonald 5-1-11, Alyssa Casey 3-5-11, Gia Bramanti 3-5-11, Megan Zalanskas 0-0-0, Aislinn McMahon 1-1-4, Allison Gilkie 0-0-0, Alexa Pacy 0-0-0, Brooke Hardock 0-0-0. Totals 14-15-45

Bishop Guertin (43): Caroline Hoffer 2-0-4, Meghan Donovan 3-3-9, Abbi Field 0-0-0, Molly Dee 2-4-8, Meghan Cramb 1-4-6, Erin Carney 2-1-5, Addison Smith 2-1-6, Rachel Marion 0-1-1, Meagan Morelli 2-0-4, Aria O’Connell 0-0-0, Elizabeth Croke 0-0-0. Totals 14-14-43

3-pointers: A — Landry, McMahon; BG — Smith

Bishop Guertin (5-2): 9 15  6 13 — 43

Andover (5-1): 9  7 13 16 — 45