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LAWRENCE — After every game, the Andover players give out a figurine for the player of the game to hold onto for a day.

After blitzing two-time defending New Hampshire Class L champion Salem, 78-64, last night in the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney semifinals, the Golden Warriors were perplexed.

Should the figurine of the Warrior go to super sophomore Joe Bramanti, who was on fire from deep, hitting all five of his 3-point attempts en route to a 17-point game?

Kevin Polanco, who had 16 points and was a pest defensively? Connor Arnold, who scored 14 points and played a flawless floor game? D.J. Fazio, who ran the show with aplomb, slicing the Blue Devil defense for eight assists while committing only two turnovers?

It was too tough to call so they gave it out to the entire team.

The figurine can go in the school lobby, town hall, heck, maybe the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, should Andover beat seemingly unbeatable Central Catholic in the title game Friday night.

It was no slam dunk that Andover, which improved to 5-0, would even advance.

With long-distance shooter Mark Adamson scoring all 14 of his points in the first half, Salem got the best of the Golden Warriors for much of the half. However, Andover reeled off 10 straight points late in the half to pull ahead by 4. But Salem’s Sean Bergeron muscled in a tip at the buzzer and Andover led just 38-36 at the break.

The second half, though, was all Andover. Playing textbook basketball, the Blue and Gold went on a 14-0 run in the third quarter and, for all intents and purposes, the game was over. Leading by 17 the way it was playing, a collapse seemed a 1,000-to-1 longshot.

Behind Fazio and Arnold, Andover’s ball-movement was exquisite, and Bramanti was in a zone from behind the arc.

"He’s tremendous,’’ Fazio said of the sweet-shooting 10th-grader. "He epitomizes what we are trying to do.’’

The coach was a Hall of Fame guard at Central Catholic and Salem State, so he’s hard on his point guards. But he admitted with a smile his son delivered big-time. This D.J. spun nothing but hits last night.

"It’s the first time I’ve complimented him in 17 years,’’ the coach said with a laugh. "I’m pretty happy with my point guard.’’

Andover’s game plan was to take away Salem’s inside game. But with Adamson and cool junior point guard Alex LaRosa (career-high 19 points) combining for six first-half treys, Andover scrapped the game plan. But Adamson cooled off and Salem’s returning Eagle-Tribune All-Stars Josh Jones (15 points, most after the game was well in hand) and Mike Kimball (3 points) both struggled against the withering Andover defense.

Meanwhile, everything Andover put up in the second half went in. The Warriors were 6 of 7 behind the arc and 15 of 23 (65.2 percent) overall.

"We imploded at the beginning of the third quarter and that was it,’’ said Blue Devil coach E.J. Perry, a schoolteacher in Andover and a former Warrior standout.

Salem would seemingly rather face the Celtics than Andover as the Blue Devils are just 1-13 vs. the Golden Warriors at the 34th annual tourney.