The AE/MS basketball season is officially underway. The Andover Eagles hosted their first home games of the year when Winnisquam came to town.

The girls, filled with a lot of excitement, started out a little slow. They pulled together led by eighth grader Kate Barton to pull ahead of Winnisquam and never look back. They finished the game with a 30 to 23 victory.

The boys White Team came out on fire. They jumped to an early lead, controlling the first half. The second half proved to be a challenge, as Winnisquam boys came charging back. Leading scorer Jared Frost, with 10 points, helped the team pull together and play great defense to pull off a win. The final score was 26-21.

The boys Blue Team opened their season by taking on a very well-skilled Sunapee boys team. The game was filled with great passing and super defense on both sides of the court. Lead changes went back and forth. With the combination in the third quarter of eighth-grader Alan Thompson leading the charge and support from seventh-graders Ezra Jenifer and DJ Rankins, the Eagles pulled ahead and maintained the lead. The game ended with a 36 to 30 win for Andover.

The girls team played Sunapee girls for their second game of the year. The team played well together. The girls jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The game was full of action. The Sunapee girls gave a strong final push in the fourth quarter, but in the end, the Lady Eagles held them off, with a final of 38 Andover to 34 Sunapee.

The boys White team enjoyed a dominating win over Inter-Lakes. With amazing defense, the boys pulled out to an early lead and never looked back. Great leadership from the eighth graders on the team allowed the young seventh graders to step up to make this a great win for the Eagles.

Over winter break, the eighth grade boys and the girls team entered into the annual tournament sponsored by the Andover Lions Club. The girls ended the tournament in second place, and the boys placed fourth. MVP for the Andover boys was Alan Thompson. For the girls, it was Kate Barton bringing home the honor of MVP.

The Andover Eagles boys and girls teams next traveled to take on the Lakers of Sunapee. The girls started the evening out a little slow, falling behind to the Lakers in the first quarter. They rallied together and came back in the second quarter. The third quarter was end-to-end action. In the end, the Sunapee Lakers proved to be too much for our girls and pulled off a win by only eight points.

The boys played well and never gave up. The game was back and forth, with Andover taking the lead and then Sunapee coming back. The boys put pressure on the Lakers in the fourth quarter, but in the end ran out of steam and fell to a tough loss of 38 to 28.

Later, the Eagles hosted local rivals Franklin. The girls started out on fire, jumping to an early lead. In the third quarter, Franklin came charging back, pulling to within two points. The girls came together as a team with great passing and good defense and held off Franklin for the win.

The boys struggled in the first quarter to get into game mode, ending the first quarter down by 16 points to a very good Franklin boys team. The Andover boys stepped up their defense and came storming back in the second half. The lead changed back and forth in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles dug deep, jumped into the lead, and never looked back, pulling out a very exciting win.