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Tri-captain Gabie Polce provided her usual savvy court presence as her game-high 19 points combined with 8 assists and 5 steals for an easy 55-29 win by Central Catholic over Billerica. Junior Melissa Miller also impressed for the Raiders with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

LAWRENCE — Swish. Swish.

With tri-captain Melissa Miller out due to illness, Bianca Sacco filled in admirably with a strong rebounding effort to help Central Catholic easily defeat Chelmsford, 53-15.

METHUEN — Andover sophomore Nicole Boudreau spent the first three quarters of the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament championship game pouring in 3-pointers.

METHUEN — Central Catholic could feel Pinkerton gaining momentum.   
The Astros cut the deficit to six points late in the third after trailing by 11 at halftime.
But then Katie Zenevitch, Melissa Miller and Gabie Polce — Central’s three returning starters from last year’s Division 1 state championship team — took over and buried Pinkerton.
The three led Central on a 10-0 run to close out the third and then on an 8-0 run to start the fourth.
Central beat Pinkerton 70-49 in a Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament semifinal contest to advance to play Andover in tomorrow’s championship game.
“Katie, Melissa and I as captains needed to start leading this team,” Polce said. “If we start getting pumped up, everyone else is going to start getting pumped up.”  
The 10-0 run happened during the final 2:31 of the third and it all started when Zenevitch tossed a strong pass into the paint for Miller. She scored her basket while getting fouled and completed the three-point play.
Polce then drove to the basket after a turnover and scored while being fouled for a 51-40 lead.
Zenevitch quickly rebounded and scored off Polce’s missed free throw.
The Boston College-bound Zenevitch then nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 56-40 with 19.2 seconds left in the third.
“We ran out of speed and we ran out of height,” Pinkerton coach John Barry said. “We tried some things that worked. We can’t dig a hole like that in the beginning. That was bad. But we cut it to six. I thought we had a chance and then they came right back. Katie shot a couple of 3s. You’ve got a 6-4 girl out there shooting 3s. What do you do?”
Zenevitch poured in 25 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had five assists.
Miller scored 17 points, collected six rebounds and made three steals.
Polce netted eight points and had six assists and three steals.
“We went to some full-court pressure (near the end of the third) ... and I think that’s when we came up big,” Central coach Sue Downer said. “And they (Zenevitch, Miller and Polce) are the three I expect to come up big in those situations and they know that.”
On to the championship  
Central and Andover meet in the title game tomorrow at 7 p.m. with Andover ranked No. 1 in the latest EMass poll and Central ranked No. 2.
Zenevitch said that she and Polce play on the same AAU team with Andover star Natalie Gomez-Martinez and they also are very good friends with talented sophomore Nicole Boudreau.
“I was watching Natalie and Nicole today and I’m pumped to play them,” Zenevitch said. “I love playing Andover.”
Andover won both meetings against Central last year by a combined 30 points.
“We’re beating our friends,” Polce said, laughing. “We’re not losing to them.”
There already has been some friendly texting about the game, players said.
Downer said her team will use its No. 2 ranking as motivation.
“It’s motivation if anything else,” she said. “I think Wednesday night’s game means all that much more. It’s a championship game, but it’s setting the tone for a lot of different things. ... They are a very quick, athletic team. One of the big things is that we want to set the pace and not let them set the pace. And we need to take care of the basketball.”
Other action
Salem’s Nora Galvin and Jen Bujnowski combined for 15 points in the first quarter to help Salem beat Lawrence 65-51 in the consolation bracket.
Yulissa Nunez led Lawrence with 16 points.
Salem will play North Andover for fifth place tomorrow after the Scarlet Knights beat Lowell 40-30 in the other consolation game.
Freshman Morgan Lumb led North Andover with 14 points.
Central Catholic 70, Pinkerton 49
Greater Lawrence Tourney semifinal
Central Catholic (70): Hebert 0-0-0; Santos 1-1-3; Williams 4-1-9; Borrelli 1-0-3; Sacco 0-0-0; Miller 8-1-17; Summers; 1-0-2, Polce 4-0-8; Brillaud 0-0-0, Piemonte 0-0-0; Martin 1-1-3; White 0-0-0, McLaughlin 0-0-0; Zenevitch 10-3-25. Totals 30-7-70
Pinkerton (49): Guidi 6-1-15, Reid 1-0-2, Harris 2-0-4, Pierce 4-6-16, Goodwin 1-2-4, Ucich 1-1-3, Breslin 0-2-2, Kimball 1-0-3, Corso 0-0-0, Bonneau 0-0-0, Walker 0-0-0. Totals 16-12-49
3-pointers: P — Guidi 2, Pierce 2, Ucich; C — Borrelli, Zenevitch 2
Pinkerton (4-1):    14 16 10  9 — 49
Central Catholic (4-0):    20 21 15 14 — 70
North Andover 40, Lowell 30
Greater Lawrence Tourney semifinal
Lowell (30 ): McQuaid 1-0-2, Barry 2-0-6, Suon 1-0-3, Tierney 1-0-2, Desmond 2-0-5, Jones 1-0-2, Cigliano 2-0-4, Bryan 2-0-6. Total: 12-0-30
North Andover (40): Foote 0-0-0, Moroney 2-3-7, Titone 0-0-0, Zahoruiko 1-4-6, Medlock 0-0-0, Lumb 5-3-14, Enright 0-3-3, Karalis 5-0-10. Totals 13-13-40
3-pointers: NA — Lumb; L —Barry 2, Suon, Desmond, Bryan 2
Lowell (1-3):     5  3 11 11 — 30
North Andover (4-1):    12 15  7  6 — 40
Salem 65, Lawrence 51
Greater Lawrence Tourney semifinal
Lawrence (51): Sicard 3-3-9, Valentin 2-0-4, Gonzalez 3-1-7, Nunez 7-2-16, Rodriguez 0-1-1, Santiago 0-0-0, Greer 3-5-12, Ozuna 1-0-2, Roman 0-0-0. Totals: 19-12-51
Salem (65): Raye 0-0-0, Galvin 4-0-9, Long 2-0-4, Connors 2-2-6, Bujnowski 10-1-21, Vaudreuil 3-0-8, White 4-1-9, Rodriguez 0-0-0, Righini 1-0-2, LaRosa 2-1-6. Totals: 28-5-65
3-pointers: L — Greer; S — Galvin,  Vaudreuil 2, LaRosa
Salem (3-2):    19 16 15 15 — 65
Lawrence (1-4):    13  6 13 19 — 51

METHUEN — Central Catholic senior Katie Zenevitch fired a crisp pass inside to Melissa Miller, who turned and scored an easy basket.

Central trailed Lowell, 17-14, after one quarter but the Raiders clamped down defensively to rough up the visitors 61-33. Gabie Polce (12) and Katie Zenevitch (11 points) led the winners. It was a far cry from recent years when these two have played so many classic games.

Gabby Polce, Central Catholic junior, had 10 steals and hit for 15 points in a 74-27 victory over Lawrence.