RallyNorth.net

Andover Golden Warriors Boys Basketball '19-'20

Tue, Feb 25, 2020 07:00 PM @ Lawrence
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Andover 14 14 13 13 54
Lawrence 14 16 18 12 60

Lancers advance to quarters

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Tuesday, February, 25 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE – Eleven days after closing the regular season with an 11-point loss to Andover, Lawrence got a little postseason revenge.

And after advancing to the Division 1 North quarterfinals with their 60-54 victory in Tuesday’s first-round, the Lancers now look for retribution against Lynn English, which knocked off Lawrence in last year’s quarters en route to a state championship.

Seeded seventh, Lawrence (16-6) opened an 11-point lead midway through the third, but Andover thrice closed to within three. A driving bucket by Kyle Rocker, cut the Warriors deficit to 48-45 with 6:35 left in the fourth. A three by Angel Herrera and a drive by Brandon Goris over the next 59 seconds briefly put the Lancers back in control.

“In the fourth quarter, we just tried to maintain and stay focused,” said Lancers senior Brandon Goris, who scored a game-high 20 with 11 rebounds. “The last few games we’ve struggled to stay focused and execute in the fourth quarter down the stretch. So, we wanted to stay composed in front of this crowd.”

Andover (13-8) responded by once again closing to within three with 2:52 remaining following a three by Charlie McCarthy and a put back by freshman Ryan MacLellan.

Goris, however, answered with a steal on back-to-back Warrior possessions. He turned into a break-away layup and the second resulted in a Gabriel Zorrila layup to secure things at 59-52 with 1:25 left.

Lawrence got strong efforts from Zorrilla (14 points), and Cristian Moscat, who came off the bench to score four points with three assists and three steals. Jeremiah Melendez scored 12 points and provided the bulk of the defense on Andover’s Kyle Rocker.

“In practice we went over how to guard him and how to guard them in general,” Goris said. “As good as Rocker is, it’s a team effort. He’s there go-to guy, so we figured if we could lock him down, we could lock the team down.”

With 14 points, Rocker approached his season average of 19, but had only two buckets in the first half and finished with six field goals on 23 attempts.

“We didn’t lose that game because of toughness,” said Andover coach David Fazio, who had the Warriors in the sectional for the 31st consecutive year. “We lost that game because we missed some shots that normally go down. Those were game changers.

Lawrence, which dropped a 66-43 decision to Lynn English a year ago, will travel to Lynn for a quarterfinal match with the second-seeded Bulldogs (19-2) at a date to be determined.

“We lost to them in the same game in the same place last year,” Goris said. “So, we’re going down there for a revenge game.”

Game Statistics:

Division 1 North first round

Andover (54): Ryan MacLellan 1 1-2 3, Kyle Rocker 6 1-3 14, Charlie McCarthy 3 0-0 7, Michael Slayton 3 2-2 10, Aidan Cammann 6 1-2 13, Richie Shahtanian 3 0-0 7, Ryan Grecco 0 0-0 0, Jack Cloutier 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 5-9 54

Lawrence (60): Jeremiah Melendez 5 2-5 12, Angel Herrera 3 0-0 9, Brandon Goris 8 1-4 20, Noah Tejada 0 1-2 1, Gabriel Zorrilla 5 4-4 14, Cristian Moscat 2 0-0 4, Keurin Reyes 0 0-2 0, Joshua Diaz 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-17 60

3-pointers: Andover — Slayton 2, Rocker, McCarthy, Shahtanian; Lawrence — Herrera 3, Goris 3

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