RallyNorth.net

Torres, Johnson ignite wild Andover win

Saturday, February, 07 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

ANDOVER - In scramble mode at halftime, David Fazio scoured his locker room for five Warriors willing to defend.

The search saved the week and possibly the season for the Andover High boys, who after alloting Lowell 40 in the first half, shackled the Raiders in the second to pull out the dramatic 54-53 decision at a wild Dunn Gym.

Undersized rebounding dynamo Jimmy Johnson played the hero, capping the comeback with an offensive-rebound hoop to give Warriors their only lead of the second half, 54-53, with 45 seconds left.

"I thought I could attack the backboard against them," said Johnson, a junior swingman who tossed in 10 points and grabbed 11 boards on the night. "I saw (Lowell's Nate) Simpson, and I know he's a shot-blocker, so I just up-faked, took a dribble and used the hoop as a shield."

The crafty move was just enough to overcome the size mismatch with the 6-foot-4 Simpson.

"It says I'm 6-foot-1, but I'm really closer to 5-11," added Johnson.

Andover, missing a pair of one-and-one front ends, then survived three straight Lowell possessions in the final flurry - the first on a Raider violation, the next on a Brian Miller deflection to D.J.Fazio and the finale, when Simpson's runner at the buzzer clanged off the back iron.

Lifeless, deflated, embarrassing ... all were suitable to sum up the Andover first-half effort which saw the Lowell beast Simpson inflict his will in a 40-27 half.

"That was atrocious," said Andover guard Josh Torres. "We knew we were better. That's not us. We pride ourselves on defense. To come out in the second half and give up 13 was phenomenal."

The 5-foot-11 reserve helped ignite the effort, drawing the matchup with a bigger, stronger Simpson, who had already chewed the Warriors up for 11 points in the first half alone.

"One of our assistant coaches (Dave Giribaldi) figured I was the only one fast enough to stay with him," added Torres. "If I worked hard enough, try to deny his touches, we could take him out of it. I tried to be as physical as I could, and I knew I was quicker."

Torres frustrated the surefire all-conference choice, helping hold Simpson to just two second-half points,  and his Warrior mates fed off the energy.

Suddenly, Joe Bramanti (9 points) relocated his slash-and-burn game, and the relentlessness of Johnson on the glass started to rattle Lowell.

Down 47-43 headed home, Andover played with confidence, squeezing all it could out of its parts.

An ill Connor Arnold drove and scored.

Kevin Polanco shook loose with a steal and layin.

Sean Ehlbeck's (10 points) lefty 15-footer from the baseline, and D.J. Fazio calmly sank a pair of foul shots to edge the Warriors into striking range at 53-52 Lowell, setting up the dramatic finish.

"We needed to win one of these," said Fazio, clearly spent after the comeback from the 13-point hole. "That's a good team. To hold them to 13 in a half is unbelievable."

Now 11-6 (10-6 as it relates to tourney seeding), Andover has officially qualified for the postseason.

More importantly, the victory over the No. 16 team in EMass should work wonders for the psyche as crunch time approaches.