The first round of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament may undoubtedly be the best Tuesday night when No. 1 girls basketball team Andover faces off with rival No. 2 Central Catholic at Methuen.

The game between the undefeated squads is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Andover (4-0) coach Jim Tildsley is looking forward to the first of what should be four meetings between the team's this season. Andover and Central Catholic will play once in the tournament, twice in the regular season as Merrimack Valley competitors and then will likely meet again in the playoffs, according to the 16-year veteran coach.

"We're always excited to play Central [Catholic]," Tildsley said. "It's a great rivalry. We've got a lot of respect for each others' programs."

Despite his excitement for the game, Tildsley is also wary of the Katie Zenevitch-less team. The Raiders have four freshmen on varsity for the first time since coach Sue Downer took over the program 15 years ago.

Tildsley's biggest concern is that Central Catholic has begun to perfect their inside game, a different strategy than in last year's contests where the ball was constantly kicked out to Zenevitch on the perimeter for the easy score.

Downer is confident that with evenly dispersed shooting, Central will have an edge over the competition.

"This year, we’re kind of a different team," Downer said. "We have lots of kids with double figures in games. In terms of a scouting standpoint, there’s a plethora of kids that can put the ball in the basket."

Watch out for Andover junior guard Nicole Boudreau who notched her 1,000th career point last week against Methuen. The Boston College bound Super Teamer and All Scholastic dropped 21 points in the game.