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Gomez-Martinez leads Andover to semis

ANDOVER — Natalie Gomez-Martinez did almost everything in a Division 1 North quarterfinal contest against Masconomet yesterday. 

She scored 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, poured in 3 of 5 3-pointers, had five assists, four steals and she even retrieved the ball when it got stuck between the rim and the backboard on a 3-point attempt by teammate Devon Caveney.

By then it was the fourth quarter and Gomez-Martinez was on the bench because her team was leading by 42 points. She got the crowd chuckling as she sprinted from the sideline, leaped, grabbed the net, pulled herself up to the rim and knocked the basketball loose.

Andover cruised to a 62-22 victory.   

“I think if I grow a few more inches I can (dunk),” Gomez-Martinez said. “I always do that in practice. I get up there pretty easily and hang on the rim just pretending I can dunk. I had my opportunity tonight so I showed the crowd.”

Gomez-Martinez scored her team’s final seven points of the first quarter to build an 11-point lead.  

“There was so much adrenaline pumping,” she said. “I think now that I’m a captain this year and I’m an upperclassman, I think that (coach Jim) Tildsley has given me the role to carry the team. And I think I can carry the team. And I want to win really bad. It’s my mission. And I think this year is our year.”    

She made a sweet move to drive past a defender to put her team ahead by 21 points in the second quarter and then nailed a 3 from near the top of the key to put the Golden Warriors ahead by 24.

Just as impressive as Gomez-Martinez was the Andover defensive effort, which forced 30 turnovers and made 17 steals. Gomez-Martinez as well as Nicole Boudreau and Alex Alois each had four steals.

Andover held Masconomet to six points in the first, four points in the second and two points in the third.
“Defense wins championships and that’s the goal,” Alois said. “Every time we get out there, every possession we focus on playing good defense for 30 seconds. And hopefully, it doesn’t take us that long. Hopefully, we’ll get a steal before that. Everyone has to focus and get their hearts in it for a full 30 seconds and that’s how we get most of our points.”