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Bramanti hits 1,000 in romp

ANDOVER — It was not the shot heard around the world, but it was a shot taken full notice by the Bramanti family.

With 5:30 left in the third quarter in Tuesday's 67-31 Division 1 North blowout victory over Lynn English, Andover senior Gia Bramanti fired up a 3-pointer from the corner, giving her 19 points on the night and eclipsing 1,000 points for her career.

The entire Andover bench then swarmed onto the court to congratulate Bramanti, complete with balloons and plenty of hoopla. Later, her family came over for hugs, with big brother Joe among them. He scored more than 1,000 points for the Andover boys during his career.

"It meant the world to me to be playing on this court when this happened, with my family and friends here," said Bramanti. "I knew I was close (to 1,000) but I didn't know it was that shot.

"This was definitely a goal of mine since my freshman year. I started out not scoring much as a freshman but I picked it up. I'm pretty happy about it."

Andover coach Alan Hibino was just as happy for Bramanti.

"She puts in so much time and has such great support from her family," said Hibino. "She really desevres this."

Bramanti missed a layup in the opening minute of the game, but then hit two of her next three shots and picked it up in the second quarter, hitting two straight 3-pointers and adding three more field goals to finish the first half with 16 points. By that time, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

After missing a flurry of shots early, the Warriors used an aggressive defense to take a 16-5 lead after the first quarter and pulled way ahead in the second quarter with a 21-4 frame to take a commanding 36-9 halftime lead.

Unable to get good shots, and often no shot at all, Lynn English (10-10) had a whopping 18 turnovers in the first half and was 3 for 25 from the floor.

After Bramanti's 3-pointer broke 1,000 points, the Warriors (17-4) were ahead by a ridiculous 43-12 and began clearing their bench, giving most of the starters a rest for the final 12 minutes of the game.

"We kind of knew (Andover would win big)," said Bramanti. "We scrimmaged them before the season."

Tatum Shaw backed up Bramanati with 16 points and the reserves played well, outscoring English 17-16 in the fourth quarter. Overall, 10 Warriors scored points.

Andover will now play No. 5 seed Reading (also 17-4) at home in the quarterfinals, probably on Friday or Saturday.