NORTH ANDOVER — The words “ominous” and “nightmare” are not good things in the opening quarter of your state tournament opener.
Somehow, the North Andover High girls managed.
The eighth-seeded Scarlet Knights overcame nearly five scoreless minutes; a major scare when Hannah Martin tweaked her ankle just two minutes in; and a couple quick fouls on sophomore standout Sydney Rogers to run away from No. 25 Weymouth, 50-32.
North Andover, now 15-6, moves on the MIAA Division 1 Round of 16 and awaits another home date, this one against No. 24 Reading.
“I’m a social worker, I deal with crisis all the time,” said Knights coach Jess Deveny. “I know that sounds crazy. But when something like that happens, I have to be the calm (one). Inside, I was like please don’t be anything horrible, please don’t be anything horrible. I wanted to get her (Martin) the care she needed, but I also knew she would be able to get on the court.”
A collective gasp engulfed the Crozier Field House when Martin went up for a top-of-the-key 3 and came down on a Weymouth foot, twisting her ankle in the process. There was pain on her face as she hobbled at half court, leaving the game immediately.
“I knew I was going to go back in, no matter what. It hurt really bad, but I didn’t want my last game to end like that,” said Martin. “We were going to do anything we could to win. and that’s what I did. This is a big game. The adrenaline is pumping. Once you’re in the game, you can’t really feel the pain. After I got out there, the first few minutes, it was like it didn’t even happen.”
Maybe the ankle took her mind off of the cold Knights start, but Martin was a changed person when she returned three minutes later.
With two minutes left in the first, she dropped in a runner. That settled things at 6-4, and she and the home team got to work, closing the quarter on a 12-3 run (Martin had 10 of them) to lead 14-9 after one.
“We played really well as a team. After the first few minutes we got all our jitters out, and there was no turning back,” said Martin.
The blitz continued with a quick six from Jackie Rogers and more Martin magic — seven more points. The lead was 29-13 at the break, leaving Weymouth to ponder what was worse, the trip through I-93 traffic to get here or the wrath endured here in “Hannah’s House.”
North Andover would pick up no style points over the second half, but the Knights were efficient enough on the big lead.
Weymouth got as close as single-digits once, at 29-21, but a Sydney Rogers hoop and a Martin three got the party started again.
Martin finished with a game-high 23 in the win. Starters Jackie Rogers had eight, Janie Papell seven, Sydney Rogers six and Nihal Berrad four for the Knights.
The balance mattered, not just in the points column but in the overall picture as well.
“It’s a team effort. Everything starts on the defensive end. Jackie had a great finish, then she got a steal … Starting with that defensive pressure, I thought Janie had a great defensive game, too. It was a statement for our kids, too, that we’re all a big part of this,” said Deveny.
Now Deveny’s job becomes a bit tougher.
First, there’s the fact that a win in the next round yields a quarterfinal date with Andover, the unbeaten top seed.
But there’s also the matter of suddenly red-hot Reading coming to town, coach by former Scarlet Knight Kara Melillo.
“One game at a time,” said Deveny “Obviously, we have it in the back of our brain that we’d love to play Andover a fourth time, but one game at a time.”
North Andover 50, Weymouth 32
Division 1 Round of 32
Weymouth (32): Farrow 1-0-2, Santos 1-0-2, Gilberto 1-2-4, Morris 1-0-2, Flynn 3-0-6, Doyle 5-3-13, Weber 0-1-1. Totals 12-6-32
North Andover (50): Berrad 2-0-4, Papell 2-3-7, J.Rogers 4-0-8, Martin 8-3-23, S.Rogers 3-0-6, Brown 1-0-2. Totals 20-6-50
3-pointers: Weymouth — Morris; NA — Martin 4
Weymouth (12-10): 9 7 7 9 — 32
North Andover (15-6): 14 15 13 8 —50