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LAWRENCE — For every question Andover presented, Central Catholic had an answer.

Clog up the paint and double-team monster junior Carson Desrosiers? Then fluid point guard Billy Marsden prowls the perimeter for open shots and Jimmy Zenevitch gobbles up weak-side misses for easy putbacks. Pressure Marsden from end line to end line? Then senior Benny Fernandez steps in to help, deftly dribbling the ball up or feeding Desrosiers at midcourt to create odd-man fast-breaks.

In a rematch of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney finals, Central once again took on everything the Golden Warriors threw at them. Preserving a lead for most of the evening, the host Raiders remained undefeated with an impressive 67-52 victory before a vociferous full house.

The one advantage Central presents that few teams will be able to defend are the amount of weapons at head coach Rick Nault's disposal. While Desrosiers was held to two points in the first half, Marsden (game-high 23 points) stepped up with 11 in the opening 16 minutes while Zenevitch added half of his dozen points to help push the hosts to an 11-point lead (33-22) at the break.

"Last game, Andover did a great job on Billy and (last night), they did an awesome job on Carson," Nault said, "which allowed other guys to step up. We're actually comfortable with three or four putting up big numbers for us, not only with Jimmy and Carson but a couple of big guys off the bench can score. We're pretty comfortable with our scoring options."

"You've just got to pick your poison with this team," Andover head coach Dave Fazio said. "They've got an awful lot of good players, and if you cheat in some areas, they'll get you in others."

Extending its defense to start the second half, the Golden Warriors created some quick turnovers but were thwarted by frigid 2-of-16 shooting. Meanwhile, Marsden rattled in a pair of 3-pointers to boost the edge to 14, and Desrosiers drained a long 3 at the third-quarter buzzer, stumbling into the middle of Central's adoring student cheering section as the Raiders took a 47-30 advantage into the fourth.

Behind all-out hustle from Connor Arnold (10 points), Kevin Polanco (12 points and 7 rebounds), and finally a fast-break layup and three-point play for sophomore Joe Bramanti (team-high 18 points), Andover closed the gap to six at 57-51 with 2:09 left to play.

But Central rode its big horses to victory. With the defensive shackles off, Desrosiers' putback started a 10-1 run to the finish line while he also blocked a pair of shots and hauled down two big rebounds. Marsden calmly went 4 for 4 from the charity stripe with Fernandez and Michael Alvarez adding clutch free throws.

Desrosiers finished with 11 points, 17 rebounds, 8 blocks and 3 assists.

"I think we come out the last two times against them with a different intensity than what we finish with," Fazio explained. "For whatever reason, we go east-to-west and we don't attack the way we need to attack because of their defense. Then we look up and we're down 12, and all of a sudden there's a different urgency in these kids.

"But these kids will never quit, and you watch them play and they're relentless. I can feel good losing — if there's such a thing, with these kids because they give everything they've got. And they have more to give, which is great."

"This really, truly is old-time Big East basketball on both sides," Nault concluded. "A lot of clutching and grabbing — we do it and they do it.

"We held them to 30 percent from the floor (21 of 71), and that's the most we've given up this year. We work hard to defend the perimeter, we gamble and if they get by, there's another obstacle (Desrosiers) in their way. We almost invite them to attack the basket. We still have to work on execution on our offense a little more, but I think we did a good job of it (last night)."