RallyNorth.net

Fri, Mar 01, 2019 07:00 PM @ Andover

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Reading	13	12	11	17	53
Andover	14	18	21	16	69

Krekorian, Andover race past Reading

Friday, March, 01 By Kyle Gaudette

ANDOVER - Normally, Shea Krekorian is doing all of the little things for Andover girls basketball.

She has the task of guarding the other team's top scorer each game. She'll gladly take a charge. At 5-foot-8, you'll always find her among the trees down low fighting for rebounds. And she averages 8.1 points per game with 24 3-pointers, so you can't lose track of her on offense.

Well, Krekorian still did all of that in Friday's 69-53 Division 1 North quarterfinal win over Reading, but she tied her season-high with 15 points in the process. The win sent the fourth-seeded Warriors (18-4) into the North semis, where they'll play either top-seeded Belmont or No. 9 Woburn. That Middlesex League showdown is Monday night.

"We're super excited," said Krekorian. "I think we can go really far this year."

The junior did most of her damage in the third quarter.

Trailing 32-25 at halftime, No. 5 Reading (17-5) pulled to within three midway into the third quarter. But Krekorian drained a pair of 3s along with a couple tough lay-ups through traffic, scoring 12 of her points in the frame to help push the Golden Warriors' lead to 53-36 heading into the fourth.

"Shea is the consummate warrior," said Andover coach Alan Hibino. "She made the second team in the MVC solely based on her ability to be the shutdown defender. We give her the toughest assignment every game and she just excels at it. And we have the utmost confidence in her to shoot the ball."

Krekorian hounded Haley Lightbody, a 1,300-point career scorer. She held the 5-7 senior to a hard-earned 14 points, 4.6 under her average.

It was a bit of a slow start for the home team, but 3s from Tatum Shaw (14 points) and Alexa Pacy (7 points) at the end of the first gave Andover a 14-13 lead. The Warriors then started the second on an 11-0 run to push the lead to double figures.

Senior guard Taylor Landry had three buckets during the stretch, and Sarah Sullivan drained a 3 from the corner.

"Locking up on defense (made the difference)," said Krekorian. "Their point guard we knew was a slasher, so if we could just stay tight on her we knew we'd be fine. I think our defense helped our offense get going."

Reading did make a run in the third, but the Warriors pushed the lead to as high as 61-40 midway through the fourth capped by a Shaw basket and-1.

The balanced hosts were led by Krekorian and Gia Bramanti with 15 points. Shaw had three 3s with her 14 points, Landry finished with 10 points and Pacy had a season-high 7 points off the bench.

"It's a tribute to the work they've put in," said Hibino. "Credit to Reading, they played hard for 32 minutes. They just kept making runs but we would answer their runs. We weathered the storm and then we pushed back.

"It was a good state tournament win. We'll recover and get ready for the next one."

 

Division 1 North Semifinals

TEAMS IN

TEAM     SEED     RECORD     LEAGUE

Peabody     No. 2     20-1     Northeastern

Central Catholic     No. 3     18-4     MVC

Andover     No. 4     18-4     MVC

LAST QUARTERFINAL GAME

Date: Monday, 7 p.m.

Teams: No. 9 Woburn (14-7) at No. 1 Belmont (19-1)

 

Andover 69, Reading 53

Division 1 North quarterfinals

READING (53): Catherine Gauthier 5 0-1 13, Alyssa Pryputniewicz 0 0-2 0, Haley Lightbody 6 2-5 14, Jacqueline Malley 3 3-4 10, Celia Capone 2 0-0 6, Nakeya Carr 3 4-7 10, Kiara Tangney 0 0-0 0, Gianna Zagami 0 0-2 0. Totals 19 9-21 53

ANDOVER (69): Tatum Shaw 4 3-4 14, Gia Bramanti 5 4-4 15, Taylor Landry 4 2-5 10, Shea Krekorian 5 3-4 15, Megan Zalanskas 1 0-0 2, Sarah Sullivan 1 3-4 6, Alexa Pacy 2 2-2 7, Brooke Hardock 0 0-0 0, Paige Gillette 0 0-0 0, Yaribal Pena 0 0-0 0, Isabelle Ferdinando 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 17-23 69

3-pointers: AND - Shaw 3, Krekorian 2, Pacy, Bramanti, Sullivan; READ - I. Zagami 3, Capone 2, Malley

Reading (17-5):     13 12 11 17 - 53

Andover (18-4):     14 18 21 16 - 69