RallyNorth.net

Wed, Jan 07, 2009 07:30 PM @ Andover

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Central Catholic	15	15	10	14	54
Andover	19	19	20	19	77

Boudreau drops 30 on Central

ANDOVER — She’s the kind of weapon point guards live for. Elusive and on target. Always.

“It takes so much pressure off you,” Andover’s Natalie Gomez-Martinez said. “Once you give her the ball, she just creates.”

Havoc mainly. That’s what Nicole Boudreau creates. The freshman dropped 30 points on rival Central Catholic last night, leading the Golden Warriors to a surprisingly lopsided 77-54 win in front of a crowd of about 300 at Dunn Gymnasium.

“She’s very smooth,” coach Jim Tildsley said. “She gets herself open. The kids look for her.”

Boudreau was confident and efficient, hitting on 9 of 11 attempts from 3-point land. After each make, she backpedaled up the floor on her tip-toes. Gomez-Martinez, the only returning starter from last year’s Division 1 finalist squad, beamed afterward.

“People said I was the only one coming back,” she said. “Having Nicole is a huge help.”

Gomez-Martinez was outstanding. She finished with 17 points and a game-high 11 assists while leading the lethal Andover fast break.

“Natalie really ran the show,” Tildsley said.

The Golden Warriors were sharp early, jumping out to a 9-0 lead three minutes into the first quarter. Central actually outscored Andover 30-29 the remainder of the half, but the quick start gave Tildsley’s club the edge. The Raiders did cut the lead to 27-24 in the second quarter, but a Gomez-Martinez free throw followed by a pair of Boudreau treys pushed the Andover cushion back to 34-26.

“I thought offensively we played as well as we could possibly play,” said Tildsley, who also credited freshman guard Ally Fazio (7 points) with sparking Andover early.

The Warriors, who went into halftime with a 38-30 advantage, opened the third with a 17-2 run, giving them an insurmountable 55-32 lead.

Junior center Katie Zenevitch saw her first action since breaking a bone in her hand during the Raiders’ season opener. While wearing a small cast, she finished with a team-high 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, helping her team stay afloat. Point guard Gabie Polce, who was recently diagnosed with mononucleosis, was also out, making life even harder for the Raiders.

“(Katie) can’t do everything,” Central coach Sue Downer said.

Boudreau and company were just too much. The precocious rookie was on the move until the end, curling off screens and calling for the ball. Her final trey of the night gave Andover a 74-51 lead late in the fourth.

“She knows she has to get tough because she’s going to get pushed around,” Tildsley said.

Gomez-Martinez wasn’t exactly surprised at Boudreau’s performance.

“Hey, this is a big game,” Gomez-Martinez said. “She did fine.”