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LAWRENCE - Never lost to Andover. Ever!

Carson Desrosiers and Central Catholic finished off the Golden Warrior grand slam yesterday, pounding Andover High, 78-56, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals before over 2,000 fans last night.

LAWRENCE - Never lost to Andover. Ever!

Carson Desrosiers and Central Catholic finished off the Golden Warrior grand slam yesterday, pounding Andover High, 78-56, in the Division 1 North quarterfinals before over 2,000 fans last night.

ANDOVER - It's tough to sell that one game at a time thing when a fourth date with Central Catholic looms Saturday.

Admittedly at times in last night's Division 1 North tourney opener with Lincoln-Sudbury, Andover found itself sneaking a peek at the future.

Andover tripped Lawrence, 62-60. Joe Bramanti led the way with 24 points. D.J. Fazio had 13 points and Brian Miller added 10 points and 13 rebounds. Lawrence, which scored a hoop in the waning seconds to pull within two points, was led by Jesse Hiraldo with 22 points.

NORTH ANDOVER — It isn’t appropriate to call this a rivalry. After all, Andover and their North Andover counterparts rarely meet on the court. But last night’s match up in front of a raucous full house certainly had the feel.

Andover lost 51-44 to Lowell for its third straight defeat. "We're in a rut," assistant coach Alan Hibino said. "We've loss three in a row but we get back at Monday against North Andover. ... We just have to get better defensively." Lowell qualified for the North sectional tournament with the victory.

LAWRENCE - He's 6-foot-7, 225 pounds of scoring punch, and somehow, over an eight-minute stretch Andover High just couldn't find him.

Central Catholic junior Jimmy Zenevitch owned the third quarter with 18 of his game-high 24 points on 8 of 10 shots, turning a fist fight into a rout, 61-47, before a raucous, standing-room crowd of about 1,500.

Andover had a chance late to tie or win in its nonleague game against O'Bryant yesterday.  Down by two points. Joe Bramanti drove in toward the basket, then passed to Brian Miller who kicked it out to James Connors beyond the arc. But Connors' 3-point attempt rimmed out and O'Bryant won 59-57 at Andover. "We played them for the last five years and they always give us a good nonleague competition," coach Dave Fazio said. "They just made more shots than us to be honest." Jimmy Johnson didn't play. The 6-foot senior forward who starts for Andover missed the contest because he turned his ankle Friday night. But Fazio said Johnson will play in tomorrow's game against Central Catholic.

Joe Bramanti continued a torrid week with 24 points, seven assists and four steals for Andover in a tough 78-72 win over Haverhill. Brian Miller muscled up for 19 points with 10 rebounds for the Warriors. Dante Perella had 19 for Haverhill, and Dennis Driftmeyer scored 18 points.

LAWRENCE - If doubts lingered, 13 games into the season,as to whose basketball team this really was, Joe Bramanti swept them away in the fourth quarter last night against Lawrence High.

Andover's captain, just a junior, dropped in 13 of his game-high 25 points in the final eight minutes, seizing control of a 52-51 nail-biter and carrying the Warriors to a 72-66 decision.