By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

LAWRENCE – Central Catholic coach Rick Nault watched eagerly from the sidelines as his team’s offense exploded for 26 points in the fourth quarter of a 64-55 victory over Andover Saturday night.

The No. 4 Raiders improved to 7-1, while the No. 3 Golden Warriors fell to 6-2.

“We pulled away at the end,” Nault said. "We made some plays, some defensive stops and we hit some big buckets when they were scrambling on defense. I think that was the difference.”

 The red-hot Raiders drained four 3-pointers, five field goals and four free throws in the final eight minutes of the game, and scored just 1 fewer point than they did the entire first half.

The victory came just 11 days after the Golden Warriors dethroned the defending state champions, grinding out a 55-52 victory in the annual Christmas Tournament.

“There’s a lot of history between the two schools and it’s been a great rivalry,” Nault said. “There’s not a whole lot that separates these two teams right now and we got [Andover] one more time down the road. We’ll find out in round three who’s on top.”

Throughout the first 24 minutes of play, the two teams fought tooth-and-nail and the Raiders carried a slim 38-36 lead into the final frame.

In the final seconds of the third quarter, emotions escalated as Andover senior guard Joe Bramanti and Central Catholic senior guard Jaycob Morales traded elbows and exchanged words before being separated by the officials and escorted back to their benches.

Raider senior forward Jimmy Zenevitch believed that this was the turning point in the game.

“I just told [my team], ‘I’m more confident than [Andover] and they’re losing their mind,’” Zenevitch said. “When Joe [Bramanti] and Jaycob [Morales] got into that little tussle, that’s when I knew we had them. When Joe loses his mind, his game goes away and that’s when we took over.”

 Morales said the whole thing was more of a miscommunication, rather than an exchange of hard feelings.

“Me and [Joe] are pretty cool and I knew he didn’t mean to swing his elbow,” he said. “We both were swinging them back. I got a lot of respect for him and he has a lot of respect for me, we just got all excited.”

Following the mix-up, Zenevitch sparked a 12-5 Raider run when he drained a 3-pointer and a field goal after an early Andover score. Zenevitch finished with 18 points and five rebounds.

Holding onto a 50-43 lead with three minutes to go, the Raiders expanded their lead to 10 when junior guard Luis Puello hit a 3-pointer that electrified the sell-out crowd.

“The crowd's our emotion – point and factor,” Zenevitch said. “When they come out like they did tonight, I don’t know if there’s anywhere else like this to be honest.”

After Puello’s shot, the teams traded baskets before Andover sophomore Sam Dowden hit a free throw and Bramanti converted an and-one to cut the deficit to 6.

But before they could get any closer, freshman guard Tyler Nelson hit the Raiders' fourth 3-pointer of the quarter and gave his team a 58-49 lead with just over a minute to play.

“[Nelson] is our second leading scorer and he has a ton of confidence in himself,” Nault said. “And for him to get a open look, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.”

Despite Andover scoring 6 points in the final minute, Morales added four free throws and sophomore forward Joel Berroa scored a wide-open layup to ice the game.

Throughout the contest, Berroa used his 6-foot-3-inch frame to assert himself in the paint and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

“My team always told me to try my best and get in there and keep on fighting,” he said. “I was just playing my game and I was just getting my rebounds and doing the best I can.”

Berroa and the Raiders outrebounded the Warriors 38-31, and Andover coach Dave Fazio said that made all the difference in the outcome.

“We gave up about 20 defensive rebounds and that’s our biggest deficiency,” Fazio said. “Until we figure that piece out, we're going to lose those tough games. They made some big shots, but at the end of the day, they got so many extra shots.”