Thursday, February 8, 2007 Older Editions

AHS Roundup: Boys gymnastics, boys baskeball

By Rick Harrison

BOYS GYMNASTICS

Strong performances by junior all-around Aaron Davidovits and a hobbled Andy O'Connell were not enough, as the Andover High boys finished third in an Eastern Mass. League tri-meet against visiting Attleboro High and Lowell High at the Dunn Gym.

Attleboro swept the meet with a 149.90, while Lowell scored 140.60 and Andover 138.00.

The same was true in a non-league inter-state dual meet at Salem, N.H., with Davidovits and O'Connell stellar in a 151.60 to 144.70 setback to the undefeated Blue Devils.

The dual-meet finale at Revere High this week ended in a 138.80 to 133.50 victory for the host Patriots - with both O'Connell and Davidovits on the sidelines.

The triple dip left the Golden Warriors at 1-6 overall.

Attleboro improved to 4-2 and Lowell is now 2-4, Salem 4-0 and Revere 2-5.

"We had hoped to win a few more meets," said AHS assistant coach Jack Gleason, "but the injury to Andy (O'Connell) and a flu virus that has gone through the team hurt us the past three weeks after a promising start."

Schedule

The Coaches Individual Meet is slated for next Monday at Lowell High (7 p.m.), and the season-ending State Team Meet is next Thursday, Feb. 15 at Burlington High. (7 p.m.).

Attleboro 149.90

Lowell 140.60

Andover 138.00

Aaron Davidovits finished third in the all-around competition with a 37.20.

Andy O'Connell, the AA winner in two meets earlier this season with 50-plus points, was restricted to two events in this meet because of a recent bout with the stomach flu and the flare-up of a recurring back problem.

Davidovits highlighted his six-event performance with a 7.2 in floor exercise, 6.3 for second place on parallel bars, 5.5 on pommel horse, 5.4 on rings and 5.0 on high bar.

Andy O'Connell had the top score in vault with a 9.1 and he also posted an 8.4 on pommel horse.

Freshman twins Adam and Mark Vetere chalked up a 5.4 and 5.3 respectively on pommel horse.

Mark Vetere added a pair of 5.2 marks on high bar and rings, while Adam also had a solid 8.2 in vault.

Senior Rob Tornatore recorded a 7.6 in vault and a 4.8 on rings.

All-around champ in the meet was Lowell sophomore Zach Aguiar with a 48.70 that included a 9.0 in vault, 8.5 on pommel horse, 8.4 on rings, floor exercise and parallel bars and 6.0 on high bar.

Salem, N.H. 151.60

Andover 144.70

In a near carbon-copy of the previous meet, Andy O'Connell once again placed first on pommel horse (9.2) and in vault (8.9) while Aaron Davidovits posted a 37.60 all-around score for third place.

Davidovits tied for third in floor exercise with a personal-best 7.5, he was second on rings (5.8) and also finished third on parallel bars (5.8) and high bar (5.1).

Adam Vetere tied for third in floor with a personal-best 7.5 and took third in vault (8.2), while Mark Vetere was third on pommel horse (5.7) and rings (5.6).

BOYS BASKETBALL

With back-to-back losses to Central Catholic, 59-51, and Lowell, 57-46, the Andover High boys varsity basketball team virtually took itself out of the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 1 title picture over the past week.

It would take an improbable set of circumstances for the locals to earn a share of the championship - including a victory in the MVC 1 finale versus Lawrence High next Tuesday and total collapses by Lowell and Central.

The loss to Central Catholic snapped a five-game win streak, and the second setback this season to Lowell was the crusher.

Those results left Andover at 12-5 overall and 8-4 in MVC Division 1 - still a terrific record for a team that began the season with just one returning starter and three seniors.

Still ahead is the Division 1 North Tournament - as well as the inaugural Warrior Classic - and anything can happen with this relentless crew which seven times has held an opponent to 46 or fewer points.

Only two teams - Central Catholic and Lowell - have topped the 60-point mark against coach Dave Fazio's stingy squad.

Schedule

Andover plays another tough non-leaguer tomorrow night at B.C. High (7 p.m.), and hosts Lawrence next Tuesday night in the MVC finale at the Dunn (7:30 p.m.),

Scoring leaders

Ian Dempsey leads the pack through 17 games with 298 points (17.5 ave.), followed by Tristian Shannon at 204, Derrick Beasley 101, Chris Abreu 77 and Greg Cook 76.

Central Catholic 59

Andover 51

Hopefully AHS will get one more shot at Central - in the Division 1 North Tournament.

For now bragging rights still belong to the Raiders - who also toppled the locals 68-55 on Jan. 5.

With another rollicking, early-arriving SRO crowd producing a continuous and deafening roar from opening tip to final buzzer at the Dunn Gym, Central Catholic walked into the enemy camp and came away with an impressive victory.

Impressive for several reasons, including the fact that streaking Andover had won five straight and CCHS was coming off a 10-point (57-47) loss to Lowell three nights earlier.

Also on the line was retaining at least a share of first place in MVC Division 1.

Both teams played rock-'em, sock-'em defense and left the outcome in doubt for 31 of the 32 non-stop action minutes.

Andover trailed by seven at the half, 26-17, trimmed the deficit to two at 32-30 in the second half, but never got over the hump.

CCHS responded to the Golden Warriors' challenge with a momentim-shifting 11-3 run - building the lead back to 10 - and AHS twice rallied within four late in the game but could get no closer.

Central had a slim 17-15 edge in field goals and converted 21-of-28 free throws to keep Andover at bay down the stretch.

Ian Dempsey was again the top scorer with 13 points and Tristian Shannon also cracked doubles with 11.

Peter White pocketed eight, Greg Cook five, Derrick Beasley and Gordon Dubois four each, Sam Hutchins two, Chris Abreu two and Zach Burdeau two.

University of Delaware football recruit Chris Morales, who was on a trip to that campus the first time these archrivals met, earned some payback for a Thanksgiving Day football loss to AHS by showing some hardwood skills on the way to a game-high 16 points.

Adrian Gonzalez added 11 and Junior DeLaHoz 10 for the Raiders.

Lowell 57

Andover 46

White-hot Lowell won its eighth straight game Tuesday night at its home Riddick Field House Abraham Gym, including two victories over Andover (66-61 on Jan. 12) and single wins versus Central Catholic and Lawrence, as it took sole possession of first place in MVC 1.

Andover, 11/2 games back at presstime, matched its lowest point total of the season (46 in win over O'Bryant).

Despite trailing by 14 at the half (33-19), and by as many as 15 points twice, the never-say-die Golden Warriors made a furious late-game charge that trimmed the deficit to one point before Lowell regrouped and pulled away a final time in the closing 70 seconds.

Ian Dempsey sparked Andover with 14 points, Tristian Shannon added nine, Chris Abreu seven and Derrick Beasley five.

Peter White pocketed four points, Greg Cook three and solo baskets were contributed by Sam Hutchins and Zach Burdeau.

Jamie Shannon and Fernando Perez paced Lowell (14-5 overall, 9-2 MVC 1) with 22 and 17 points respectively.