The Andover Trojans entered their tilt with the Eisenhower Tigers with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. Andover slipped by the Tigers 58-57 on Tuesday. Given Andover's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 29th, while the Tigers are ranked 175th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Leading Andover to victory were Blake Rucker and Joshua Kim. Rucker scored 18 points, while Kim scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Kim has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Tanner Woolston, who scored five points along with five rebounds.
Eisenhower lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Chase George, who scored 18 points along with two steals. George has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Pierce Blue was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Andover's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.0 points per game. As for Eisenhower, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-9 record this season.
Andover will take on the Hornets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Valley Center focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Tuesday. As for Eisenhower, they will be playing in front of their home fans against the Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Andover Central has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
