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Andover whips Salem in Christmas tourney opener

METHUEN — Despite averaging 18.6 points, sophomore Nicole Boudreau wasn’t too pleased with the way she shot the ball in Andover’s first three games.
“I’ve been working on my shot a lot,” she said. “I know I’ve been off the first couple of games and haven’t been shooting the best I could. It felt good coming out of the hand. It just never seemed to drop. So I’ve been in the gym working on my shot and today I just felt it.”
Boudreau definitely looked like she felt it against Salem yesterday in the first round of the Greater Lawrence Girls Christmas Tournament.
She scored 11 points during a 14-1 run to start the game.
Boudreau scored 13 points in the first quarter and had 21 for the contest. She helped Andover wallop Salem 73-34 to secure a spot in the semifinals Monday against Methuen. Andover beat the Rangers 75-42 last Thursday.
“Salem is aggressive and we knew we had to match their intensity,” Boudreau said. “To come out strong in the first five minutes is what our goal has been. I think that gets us off to a good start and demoralizes the other team.”
Boudreau poured in four 3-pointers.
“We self-destructed,” Blue Devils coach Liz Briggs said. “Turnovers, boxing out, following shots, hustling, calling transition defense — stuff we can control we did not control tonight.”
Andover coach Jim Tildsley said: “That’s the best we’ve played all year on our pressure defense. They just couldn’t get it (up the court).”
“We played them already but Rashidat (Agboola) didn’t play a lot in the first half because she was in foul trouble,” said Andover senior Alex Alois, who netted nine points against Salem. “So I’m looking forward to playing her again. I think it will be more challenging with her in the game and I’m excited.”
Tildsley added, “Plus, we’re playing on their court, too. So we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Andover 73, Salem 34
Salem (34): Raye 1-0-2, Galvin 3-0-6, Connors 1-2-4, Bujnowski 2-1-5, Vaudreuil 1-0-2, White 3-5-11, Rodriguez 2-0-4, Righini 0-0-0, Forrest 0-0-0. Totals: 13-8-34.
Andover (73): Fazio 2-1-6, Gomez-Martinez 4-0-8, Caveney 3-3-11, Scarpa 1-0-3, Biles 3-0-7, J. Alois 1-0-2, Boudreau 7-3-21, A. Alois 4-1-9, Drivas 1-0-2, Bill 1-2-4, McDonald 0-0-0, Maturah 0-0-0, Beasley 0-0-0. Totals: 27-10-73
3-pointers: A — Fazio, Caveney 2, Scarpa. Biles, Boudreau 4
Andover (4-0):    22 8 23 20 — 73
Salem (2-2):     7 7  8 12 — 34