Andover girls' backcourt quickly makes mark

To compensate for Central Catholic's height, Andover girls' basketball players Nicole Boudreau and Natalie Gomez-Martinez simply picked up the pace last night and led their team to a 61-54 road win.

"I think they're two of the top guards, and they're only a freshman and a sophomore," said Andover coach Jim Tildsley of Boudreau and Gomez-Martinez, respectively.

Boudreau was the night's leading scorer with 24 points, including five 3-pointers, and Gomez-Martinez wasn't far behind, netting 18.

Six-foot-3-inch Central Catholic center Katie Zenevitch finished with 17 points and dominated the boards, but it wasn't enough.

Although No. 4 Central Catholic (12-3) scored the first 11 points of the game, No. 2 Andover (14-2) answered with 9 in a row. It went back and forth, with the Golden Warriors carrying only a 3-point lead into the fourth quarter.

But in the final quarter, Andover took off, claiming its second win over Central Catholic this season. "It was one heck of a win for my kids," Tildsley said.

Bay State: Top-ranked Wellesley nearly doubled up Natick, 75-39, to improve to 15-0. Blake Dietrick (23 points) and Mary Louise Dixon (20 points) led the Raiders.

Catholic Central: No. 5 Arlington Catholic improved to 15-1 by beating Matignon, 64-21, as forward Cara Paladino had 18 points and eight rebounds.

Commonwealth: Casey Dion scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half to push Mystic Valley (9-4) past Chelsea, 39-35.

Dual County: No. 19 Concord-Carlisle (12-3) got 15 points from Charlotte Rafferty to defeat Bedford, 52-44.

Boston City: Cory McMillen dunked an alley-oop pass from Greg Cabral with 1.1 seconds left as East Boston (12-4) sneaked past Snowden, 67-66 . . . Aaron Bray's 26 points paced Latin Academy (8-6) in its 67-63 victory over Charlestown . . . Madison Park beat Fenway, 76-57, led by Spencer Braithwaite (23 points, 7 assists) and Jamal McCollum (18 points, 12 rebounds).

Cape Ann: Manchester Essex beat Hamilton-Wenham, 68-66, in overtime to improve to 10-7 and secure its first tournament berth in seven years.

Commonwealth: Lynn Tech beat Northeast, 75-62, despite 41 points from the Golden Knights' Dario Picozzi.

Dual County: No. 9 Westford (15-1) guaranteed itself a share of the league title by beating Boston Latin, 69-59. Peter Lynch and T.J. Jann each had 22 points to keep the Grey Ghosts undefeated in league play at 7-0.

Merrimack Valley: Ryan Pratt scored twice on feeds from Lucas Breton (three assists) as No. 11 Waltham beat Westford, 3-2, to improve to 10-1-4.

Middlesex: Reading clinched second place with a 4-1 league record, defeating Belmont, 91-79. Freshman Connor Daly won the 100 butterfly (58.97) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07).

Globe correspondent Ben Seal contributed to this report.