Girls Basketball Falls To Andover 40-37
Last Saturday, girls’ varsity basketball played against Andover in its 14th game of the season. Andover edged Exeter out to win the game, 40-37. Big Red’s record fell to 2-12. Upper Maria Heeter felt the score did not represent how the game played out. She said, “We won the 2nd half. We played our 2-3 [defense] very effectively, but we need to improve on the other side of the court.”
In previous games, the team has struggled to score points. In 7 of its 14 games so far, it scored fewer than 35 points. In the team’s games against Thayer and Governor’s Academy, the opponents outscored the girls by double-digits.
The Andover game, however, provides hope for the team going forward in the season. The team’s defense improved since their game against Governor’s Academy, where Exeter lost by 14 points.
Heeter said that the team’s defense improved significantly since the beginning of the season. She believes the team can become even more competitive if its offense can keep improving. Upper Michaella McCarthy agreed. “Our shooting and transition was much improved against Andover from earlier in the season.”
"We will be able to use the loss as motivation to compete harder and more intensely in practice this week and will surely help us to prepare for our games before our next rematch."
Both Heeter and McCarthy felt the Andover game was one of the better games they have played this season. McCarthy said, “There was definitely a lot more energy in our Andover game than in any of our previous competitions. We did a good job of channeling that energy into intensity and using it as motivation to play every possession to the best of our abilities.”
McCarthy credited this improvement to the way the team practiced in recent weeks. “Our cohesion, shooting, passing and off-ball movement are some of the areas in which we've made the greatest improvement, which can be directly attributed to the way we've competed with one another in practice,” she said.
Exeter will have one more opportunity to beat Andover during their Winter E/A on Feb. 25 at home. That game will be the team’s last of the regular season this year. The team hopes that the rematch will yield a different result.
McCarthy, however, believes the team should focus on its game against Worcester this Saturday, Feb. 11. “Andover is always exciting, but we need to concentrate our efforts on our next game.”
She indicated that the team still needs to improve throughout the rest of its practices this season and prepare for its upcoming games against Worcester and Tilton.“We will be able to use the loss as motivation to compete harder and more intensely in practice this week and will surely help us to prepare for our games before our next rematch.”
The team has had a tough season, losing more games than hoped for. Even though the girls have faced many challenges, they still believe that they can turn their season around. They plan to learn from their mistakes earlier this season and win the rest of their last four, including the Andover rematch.