RallyNorth.net

Andover falls short in North semfinals

Wednesday, March, 04 By David Willis
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — As the crowd filed out of the Crozier Field House, Andover head coach David Fazio could be seen standing in the hall that overlooks the court, comforting emotional senior David Giribaldi, breaking only to give another hug to fellow senior Connor Merinder.

“It’s sad,” said Fazio. “These are great kids that I could not have asked for more from. I have been blessed to coach guys like these, and they gave it everything they could.”

Wednesday night marked the end of an era for the Andover High basketball program. When the Golden Warriors take they court next winter — for the first time in four years — 1,000-pound scorer Giribaldi and star bigman Merinder will not be in Blue and Gold.

The pair of four-year varsity stalwarts led a torrid rally to cut a 20-point deficit down to just six in the third quarter. But it would not be enough, as No. 5 seed Andover High fell to top-seeded Cambridge Rindge & Latin in the Division 1 North semifinals on Wednesday at North Andover High in front of a crowd of approximately 4,000 fans.

Cambridge now advances to face No. 3 St. John’s Prep in the Division 1 North final at the Tsongas Center, while the Golden Warriors were forced to say farewell to as pair of Eagle-Tribune All-Stars who have been front-and-center for the program since the 2011-12 season.

And it was the two that sparked Andover’s rally, as Merinder scored 14 of his game-high 25 after halftime while Giribaldi scored 12 of his 17 following the break.

But Fazio said he expected nothing less.

“They fought so hard, and they have for four years” said Fazio. “Connor just epitomizes what every high school coach dreams of. He is selfless, he cares about his team and coaches so much and he has given everything he could to the program.

“In Giribaldi, you have an All-Scholastic that has played the whole year with a torn abductor muscle and never missed a game. He was playing with 10 percent of his athleticism and he was still terrific.”

Andover saw Cambridge race out to a 26-11 lead after one quarter on Wednesday, and by late in the second quarter the Falcons had extended the advantage to 38-18.

“I just think we were a step behind defensively,” said Fazio. “Saturday (double-overtime win over Lawrence) took a lot out of us. They started making shots and we committed too many fouls, and we really had to make adjustments.”

The Warriors ended the first half with a flurry. First Merinder hit a jumper, Giribaldi followed that with a 3-pointer, Merinder added a slashing layup and Jonathan Rodriguez stuck a jumper to make it 40-28 at the half.

Giribaldi and Merinder continued that run into the second half, delivering a 10-2 run on their own, and with 3:30 left in the third the advantage was down to 44-28.

“When we cut it to six we felt very confident,” said Fazio. “But then they come back with a couple of 3-pointers, and suddenly the lead is back to 12.”

The Warriors were able to cut it to single digits one more time, when Rodriquez nailed a 3-pointer to make it 60-52 with 6:03 left in the game. But it would get no closer.

“They were just to athletic, and the way they drove to the hoop really put us on our heels,” said Fazio. “We tried to recover, but we came up short.”

Following the contest Fazio and his assistants said their goodbyes to Merinder, Fazio along with fellow seniors Reid Bryant, Jonathan Rodriguez and Griffin O’Connor.

“It’s so tough,” said Fazio. “This is a very special class. Reid fought through so many injuries to be here, Gabe was a spunky guard and Griffin always gave it his all. And of course Giri and Merinder. It’s going to be strange next year.”