Andover Central girls edge Goddard in OT

When Goddard’s girls bottled up Andover Central’s leading scorer Ryann Stearns, senior Jewell Bolden kept the Jaguars in Friday’s game.

She scored 22 points, including four three-pointers, and the Andover Central gutted out a 39-37 AVCTL-Division II overtime victory.

“I was most proud that this group got down (but) didn’t quit on themselves or each other and continued to fight,” Jaguars coach Stana Jefferson said. “And I saw fight in them throughout the whole game, which is good, especially at this part of the season.”

Bolden was especially potent in the second and third quarters, scoring 16 points in the two periods.

“Jewell settled down and got in a groove and focused,” Jefferson said. “She was really locked in to the game. I was proud of what she did and at the moment that she did it.

“Our goal is to get everyone on that page, consistent, for the rest of the season.”

The play that best exemplifies Bolden’s night came in overtime. Goddard (12-3, 6-1) was bringing the ball up when the lightning-quick Bolden deflected and ran down a pass at midcourt and took it in for a layin that gave the Jaguars (9-5, 6-1) a 36-32 lead with 2:01 left in the extra period.

“I was able to anticipate and get a steal and a layup,” she said. “The rest of our team was playing really good defense, which forced the bad pass.”

Junior Ashtyn Brown provided a late boost for Andover Central, scoring five of the Jaguars’ seven fourth-quarter points.

“She’s going to come in and give us energy, give us boards, and the kid can score, too,” Jefferson said.

Stearns, averaging 18.2 points coming in, was held to eight.

“They were face-guarding Ryann,” Jefferson said. “I told Ryann, ‘That’s when you pick up the rest of your game.’ And she did that defensively. She has handled it very, very well.”

The Jaguars and Lions find themselves deadlocked atop the AVCTL-II standings, with both teams’ lone loss on the other team’s home court.

Goddard coach Kevin Hackerott said free throws (Goddard hit just 9 of 17) were a factor, and so was Bolden.

“Jewell’s so fast,” he said. “She causes problems. There were a couple of times – I don’t know if people would notice this – but we had her beat on defense down in the post, and her speed just allowed her to get back and knock the ball out of bounds.”

Hackerott said the Lions’ execution was off.

“You’ve got to make plays, and we didn’t make enough plays throughout the game or late in the game,” he said. “We had a six-point lead late and had two really bad defensive possessions. That’s not normal for us; we’re usually pretty solid defensively.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 9:02 PM with the headline "Andover Central girls edge Goddard in OT."