NORTH ANDOVER – and then there was one.
Four first-round girls matchups are in the books here at the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic, and just one Merrimack Valley Conference hope remains.
Top-seeded, defending champion Central Catholic strolled over Methuen in its opener, but there were no other survivors.
The Raiders will face off against Pentucket Regional in the first of two semifinals here at Merrimack College’s Lawler Arena on Saturday, while Natick and Bridgewater-Raynham will collide in the other.
Here’s a look at Friday’s action:
Central Catholic 57, Methuen 20
It is no secret that Methuen is rebuilding, basically from scratch, but Central chose the tourney opener as an opportunity to let hoop folks know that they are driven to repeat in this event.
“It felt nice to make some history last year, but now we’re starting new. Big picture, winning the Christmas tournament really sets the tone for the season. It keeps our standards high. Going into the (bulk of) the regular season with a win here would be really nice,” said Central senior Addison Beers, who enjoyed the opening win over her hometown team just a little more than most.
“We have a lot of intensity coming into this with a chip on our shoulders after winning the tournament last year. Our strong leadership has us working hard every day. We have a lot of returners, it’s just a matter of keeping up the intensity from last year.”
Senior Aniela Kwo led the balanced Raiders with 14 points isn the win. McKenna Devanney added 10, and returning tourney MVP Kerri Finneran had nine.
Mackenzie Corrigan paced the Rangers with seven.
Pentucket 35, Westford 26
For the third year in a row, the Pentucket girls will be competing in the semis.
The tape from Friday’s opener probably won’t be used in any instructional video for beginners, but the No. 3 Panthers did what they do best to pick up the win. Amelia Crowe led the way with 13 points, which included the dagger 3-pointer with three minutes left, and the Panthers smothered No. 6 Westford Academy.
“We played really good defense, but our offense was rushed,” said Pentucket coach John McNamara. “Just too many mistakes on offense, and we let (Westford) hang around. It wasn’t the best second half from us, but we played unbelievable defense to start the game.”
Natick 68, Andover 39
No. 5 Natick announced its presence with authority and then some against the 2023 finalists from Andover, breaking to a 50-10 lead at the break and never looking back.
Kiera Lenihan provided the bulk of the Andover offense with 20 points on the night. Kallie Martin added eight.
Bridgewater-Raynham 34, North Andover 19
With a defense centered around stopping Sydney Rogers, B-R did just that, holding the returning Eagle-Tribune Super Teamer without a field goal in a six-point night.
The Scarlet Knights battled and defended well all night long, trailing 19-10 at the half, but just couldn’t get the offense going.
Camden Strandberg led the winners with 12 points.
Kyle Gaudette contributed to this report.