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LAWRENCE — Andover star Nicole Boudreau doesn’t shoot many airballs, but she did have one during the first half against Central yesterday.  

“It was pretty bad,” Boudreau said, describing her entire first half. 

But luckily for Andover, several other players stepped up and scored in the first half and then Boudreau found her stroke in the second half, netting five 3-pointers. 

It wasn’t easy for them, but the Golden Warriors posted an impressive 53-42 victory at Central, where Andover had not won a game since Feb. 2009. 

Andover is 2-0 against Central this season. The Golden Warriors posted a 57-33 victory over their archrival in the Greater Lawrence Christmas tournament title game Dec. 29.  

“Devon (Caveney), Ally (Fazio), Jackie (Alois) and all of them, they have to step up and score this year without Natalie (Gomez-Martinez),” Boudreau said. “It’s totally expected from them and luckily, I got some shots at the end that happened to drop.”

Boudreau scored just three points in the first quarter and had just five points total during the first half until the final second before halftime when she had a three-point play. 

Central’s Alex Nagri and also freshman Kaleigh Smith, off the bench, guarded Boudreau well.

"She (Nagri) might be short, but she's just one hell of a defender," Boudreau said.   

Andover fell behind 9-2 in the first 3 minutes. But Caveney, Fazio, Alois and Angelice Gonzalez all chipped in offensively to give Andover a 16-15 edge after one quarter. 

Andover then held Central to 10 points in the second quarter, nine in the third and eight in the fourth. 

The Golden Warriors led by four points at halftime thanks to Boudreau's three-point play with less than 1 second left. 

“Our win tonight was because of our defense,” Caveney said. “We made steals when we needed to. We covered Casey (McLaughlin) really well. We needed to stop her. Our defense pumped up everybody up so everybody was ready to score and it even freed up Nicole a little bit. She could make her passes and drive to the basket. She was posting up. That’s a new thing.”  

The Alois sisters, Jackie and Rebecca, were given the difficult task of having to guard the 6-foot McLaughlin, who finished with 16 points. 

Jackie, a 5-6 junior, started out covering McLaughlin, but then the job fell upon Rebecca, a 5-7 sophomore, once Jackie got into foul trouble early.

“She (Rebecca) did a great job,” Jackie said. “She didn’t play like a sophomore tonight. She bobbled it a couple of times but she really stepped in big and did a great job on (McLaughlin).” 

Caveney finished with 10 points. Fazio and Gonzalez combined for 14. Jackie Alois had four points. 

“They’re obviously going to be all over Nicole,” Fazio said. “Why wouldn’t they be? She’s the best player. So this is our time to step up. ... Both the (Alois sisters) can rebound unbelievably. They’re the best two teammates to have because even though they don’t score, they get the ball to me and Devon and Nicole. Devon stepped up a lot with two 3s in the (first quarter).” 

Central coach Sue Downer told her players that she was satisfied with their effort. 

“I’m not happy we didn’t win,” Downer said. “But there are certainly things we can build on. We got better. We improved. Those are all things, with a young team, that show we’re moving in the right direction.”

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