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LAWRENCE — Madison Borrelli pumped her fist during a brief and well-earned celebration with 2:54 left in the contest. She had just driven to the basket and made her layup while getting fouled.
The basket put Central Catholic ahead for the first time since early in the second quarter and capped a tremendous comeback after the defending state champion Raiders appeared on the verge of elimination.
If Central Catholic fans didn’t receive enough drama during the boys’ overtime victory over St. John’s Prep on Tuesday, then they bit the remainder of their nails off last night.
Down 12 points with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter, the second-seeded Raiders rallied for a thrilling 49-43 victory over third-seeded Masconomet in the semifinals of the Division 1 North playoffs at Lawrence High.
“I was just so excited because we were finally up in the game,” Borrelli said about her first pump. “And I wasn’t making my shots and it just felt great.”  
Central advanced to the Division 1 North final. It will play Woburn or Lynn English on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Tsongas Center.  
Borelli scored nine second-half points and completed her three-point play with 2:54 left to put Central ahead 43-40. That came right after Amanda Williams’ completed a three-point play with 3:33 remaining to tie it.
Borrelli, Williams, Courtney Walsh and Caitlin Dell’Orfano all produced in a huge way offensively in the second half.
But the offense came when Central began to full-court press Masconomet.
Masco couldn’t handle the pressure, throwing balls away, traveling and missing baskets. In all, the Chieftains scored just six points in the final 9:40 of the contest.
“We win games by defense so we just had to get one stop at a time,” Borrelli said. “I was doing anything I could to get that defensive stop. And I know we all worked together to get it.”
Masco’s defense was the story for most of the game. The Chieftains used a double-team against Williams down low and caused the high-powered Central offense to score just four points in the second quarter and 16 points through the first 20:04 of the game.
The Raiders didn’t score their first second-half basket until 4:04 into the third period.
But when it mattered most, Central’s defense was better.
“None of us had a doubt in our mind that we were going to win this game coming into it,” Dell’Orfano said. “Our defense creates our offense. That’s our motto. That’s how we get going. That’s how we get our points. Offense should be easy for us.”
Despite being covered pretty well with 1:25 left in the game and Central ahead four points, Dell’Orfano kept calling loudly for her teammates to pass her the ball. Dell’Orfano did receive a quick pass and drove in from the 3-point line for a layup to make it 46-40.
“She’s a senior, she’s so experienced and she wanted it so bad,” Borrelli said. “She wanted to do it before Al (Alex Nagri) because Al had four fouls and we knew we had to get this for her.”
With 7.3 seconds left and her team up four points, Borrelli sealed it with two free throws.
“We all contribute every game: our four seniors especially and especially our sophomore, Madison Borrelli, tonight,” Dell’Orfano said.
Central Catholic 49, Masconomet 43
  Division 1 North Semifinals
Masconomet (43): Nicole Femino 4-0-8, Meghan Collins 2-0-4, Megan Letvinchuk 1-0-3, Hannah Kiernan 8-1-19, Kate Kitsakos 0-3-3, Lexie Nason 0-0-0, Stephanie Mini 2-2-6. Totals 17-6-43
Central Catholic (49):  Courtney Walsh 4-1-10, Alex Nagri 0-4-4 , Amanda Williams 6-3-15, Toni Joy 0-0-0, Madison Borrelli 2-5-9, Colleen Frey 0-0-0, Caitlin Dell’Orfano 4-3-11. Totals 16-16-49
3-pointers: M - Kiernan 2, Letvinchuk; CC — Walsh
Masconomet (21-2):    13 11 13  6 — 43
Central Catholic (21-1):    12  4 15 18 — 49

TOPSFIELD — Since the Masconomet girls basketball team moved up to Division 1 four years ago, Andover has staked its claim as the Chieftains main nemesis come tournament time.   The Golden Warriors sent Masconomet home at the Tsongas Arena two years ago and since then it's been the Chieftains mission to return the favor.   The host Chieftains understood what they were going up against on Saturday. They scrimmaged Andover in the preseason, watched film and even took in Andover's victory over Lynn Classical last Thursday night. To say the Chieftains were ready for this quarterfinals matchup would've been an understatement. For the first time ever Masconomet was able to walk out of the gym victorious after a landmark, 52-47 win. The win sends the Chieftains to the semifinals and will take on another Merrimack Valley Conference powerhouse, Central Catholic. "We got to see exactly how they play and how we had to approach the game," said junior Kate Kitsakos, who had a game-high 18 points. "Most of preparation was on defense and we each had a different role." Masco's (21-1) defensive presence was felt holding Andover (16-6) to just four points in the second quarter. The other big difference was Kitsakos' heroics, right down to her final steal of the game at the buzzer. Kitsakos added four rebounds and two other steals to get her team to the next round. "She was everywhere, just phenomenal," Masco head coach Bob Romeo said of Kitsakos. "Kate has been tremendous this year and doesn't get enough recognition for what she does. "What she was able to do, covering Colleen Caveney and getting her 18 points— just crazy hustle." Masconomet led by five, 18-15 at the half after Kitsakos hit back-to-back layups to end the second quarter. The Chieftains had its best scoring quarter of the game in the third, dropping in 18 and went up 36-28. Andover got back into it in the fourth after Jessica Witten hit a contested three-point to cut the deficit to three. Warrior freshman Alyssa Casey was on fire in the fourth quarter, knocking down two-three pointer to make 42-40 Masco with two minutes to play. "It was a tremendous game and tremendous effort by both teams," said Andover head coach E.J. Perry, who's in his first season with the Warriors. "My team did everything they could to get it two and then Masco just responded." The Chieftains wrapped up the the game going 6-for-8 from the line to pull out the win. Junior point guard Meghan Collins had 10 points, Hannah Kiernan, Stephanie Mini Nicole Femino all had seven. For Andover, Casey had a team-high 14 points, while Caveney and Witten both added nine.