Note: Girls basketball won its North semifinal game to advance in the playoffs. See story, page 2.
Below is coverage of earlier action:
Girls Basketball
Already a three-year starter, Natalie Gomez-Martinez thrives in the postseason.
The junior scored 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, poured in 3 of 5 3-pointers and had five assists as Andover blasted Masconomet 62-22 in the Division 1 North quarterfinal on Friday.
"I think if I grow a few more inches I can (dunk)," said Gomez-Martinez, who also skied to retrieve the ball when it was stuck between the rim and backboard. "I always do that in practice. I get up there pretty easily and hang on the rim just pretending I can dunk. I had my opportunity tonight so I showed the crowd."
She made a sweet move to drive past a defender to put her team ahead by 21 points in the second quarter and then nailed a 3 from near the top of the key to put the Golden Warriors ahead by 24.
Just as impressive as Gomez-Martinez was the Andover defensive effort, which forced 30 turnovers and made 17 steals. Gomez-Martinez as well as Nicole Boudreau and Alex Alois each had four steals.
"Defense wins championships and that's the goal," Alois said. "Every time we get out there, every possession we focus on playing good defense for 30 seconds."
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After nine days off, Nicole Boudreau and Andover started the postseason off in style. Boudreau knocked down her first six shots as the Golden Warriors rushed out to a 23-point first quarter lead on the way to crushing Methuen 79-44 in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament last Wednesday.
"We wanted to come out strong," said Boudreau, who wound up with a game-high 23 points. "As the No. 3 seed, we wanted to make a statement that we're ready."
Natalie Gomez-Martinez, with some superb drives, backed up Boudreau with 20 points and Alex Alois, in addition to guarding Methuen standout Rashidat Agboola quite effectively, scored 15 points.
"We had a long time between games and we were anxious to play," said Andover coach Jim Tildsley. "I thought we played very well for our first (tournament) game."
Boys Basketball
Warriors fall to archrivals
Andover's Jimmy Johnson scored 12 impressive points, and teammate Brian Miller threw down an eye-popping slam dunk in traffic that sent the crowd into hysterics.
But, in the end, it wasn't enough and the Golden Warriors fell to archrival Central Catholic 78-56, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals before over 2,000 fans on Sunday.
"Every game we played them, they had two guys in double figures, the same two guys, Carson (Desrosiers) and (Jimmy) Zenevitch," said Andover coach David Fazio, who called the sloughing-off defense an inverted triangle-zone with man-to-man on Desrosiers and Zenevitch. "We said no touches for them. If the other three guys make shots, we'll make adjustments. And they go (7 for 8 to start the game)."
Joe Bramanti added a team-high 13 points and D.J. Fazio added eight for the Golden Warriors.
Boys Hockey
Swett, Warriors bow out
Matt Swett finished off his breakout junior season with a goal, but Andover fell to Woburn 2-1 in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament last Wednesday. Joe Kuta added an assist and Kyle Berthiaume made 30 saves for the Golden Warriors.
Girls Hockey
Andover bid falls short
Andover fell to St. Mary's 6-0 in the Division 1 first round on Saturday.
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Sarah Oteri, Meaghan Leary and Laura Cahill each scored a goal as Andover topped Marblehead 3-2 in the Division 1 preliminary round last Wednesday. Nicole Giroux, Lea Macheras and Meagan Keefe each had an assist and Kyla Mosquera made 30 saves for the Winners.
