ANDOVER – Friday night’s Andover High boys hoop win at Central Catholic had the Danny Resendiz stamp all over it.
Andover, down 16-1 early, just would not relent and ultimately in the end wore down the Raiders for the thrilling early-season win.
“He’s such an amazing leader,” said Warrior coach David Fazio of his only returning senior starter. “I mean, we’re so young this year, and he’s just been a guy that has gone out of his way to keep us going through it all.”
Resendiz and the Warriors have only just begun. At 3-1, the next step is, of course, this week’s Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic tournament at Merrimack College.
“I grew up in Andover and have been watching the Christmas Tournament for a long time,” said Resendiz. “To be honest, I feel a little cheated. We didn’t have freshmen year, and I was really bummed sophomore year when it was canceled at the last second (due to COVID).”
After reaching the semis a year ago and falling to Beverly, Resendiz hopes for a much different outcome this time around. It’s all pretty much part of what some might consider the plan for Resendiz, one that took him to the most unlikely places, starting all the way back in the fourth grade.
.”My dad (Gus) was always pretty involved with the Lawrence Boys Club, and he wanted me and my sister (Katie) to see both sides of things,” said Resendiz. “It makes you appreciate what you have.”
Five years in the Boys Club hoop program laid some serious groundwork that the Warrior senior sees come into play on a daily basis in his life.
“I was able to be a part of (the late) Bert Hammel’s last team in the sixth grade,” said Resendiz, who played on teams with guys like his main competition now, Lawrence High’s Obbie Luciano and Joendy Rosario to name a couple.
“Guys like Bert, Steve Kelley and Stevie Martinez … I give them a lot of credit for who I am today. I absorbed a lot of lessons.”
Like anyone who shows up to play, Resendiz was subject to all the guidelines laid out at the club.
“I didn’t get any breaks and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” said Resendiz. “Study halls, weekly progress reports from school. I did it all. Being the Andover guy I was a bit of an outcast. I wasn’t welcomed immediately, but after the guys got to know me, it was all right.”
The folks at the club benefitted from him, too.
“You’ve got to be tough to not be from Lawrence, to keep coming back and survive in the jungle. How we do it at the Boys Club is different than a lot of other places. We don’t cut, so any season you could be in the gym with 30 kids or 50 kids and it’s survival of the fittest. I thought he was tough for doing that … He always toughed it out and came back.”
Resendiz paid close attention and learned, something that didn’t stop when he hit Andover High School. There were some serious leaders in the program ahead of him – guys like Logan Satlow, Aidan Cammann, Richie Shahtanian and Ryan MacLellan. Resendiz saw how they piloted the program through the good times and the bad.
“I have to give some credit to the guys before me,” said Resendiz. “They helped me be a leader. There’s a lot of responsibility with it, but I’m enjoying it.
“We’re still figuring things out as a team, but the thing I love is we’ve come a long way since summer and fall. There are no egos on this team. I love this group of guys. Everyone has each other’s back.”
Resendiz is getting it done off the court as well. He had hopes on a bigtime college career but made sure to tend to business in the classroom to complement it, just in case.
The attention to detail – a 4.28 gpa accompanied by a hard-earned 1,340 on the SAT – landed him an early spot at Northeastern where he will study business and minor in psychology.
There won’t be any hoop, so perhaps that adds to the urgency this winter.
“We’re really excited about it,” said Resendiz.”We want to get back at it. We’re ready to go.”