ANDOVER — It was far from a thing of beauty on Friday inside the Dunn Gymnasium. In fact, at times, it looked more like a rock fight than a girls basketball game, but the result for Andover was nothing but beautiful.

The Golden Warriors locked down South High Community School (Worcester) over the final quarter and a half, closing the game on a 14-4 run, to reach the Division 1 semifinals with a 44-36 win over the Colonels.

“This is a smart, resilient group and we just found the way a little bit more in that fourth quarter,” Andover coach Alan Hibino said. “We are a young team but our seniors (Mia Vidoni and Kiera Lenihan) willed us to victory.”

Stefania Kyriazis gave South a 32-30 lead late in the third quarter before Andover began its final charge. Freshman Lexi Linsey knocked down a three to give the Golden Warriors (22-1) back the lead.

Then came a critical eight seconds to end the quarter. Haley Magenheim (10 points) scored and was fouled on the play. She missed the ensuing free throw, but Linsey got the rebound and threw in a runner as time expired for a 36-32 lead.

Lydia Charlonne (11 points) hit a three and Madison Leighton added a free throw for South (19-4) early in the fourth to cut the lead to one. Savannah Ross responded with a big layup for Andover and Lenihan hit a free throw to make it a four-point game.

South had three open looks from behind the arc moments later but couldn’t get anything to fall. Magenheim then hit a pair of layups in the final minute to finally allow the Andover side to exhale.

“She is a first team all-conference player and she played like every bit of it (Friday),” Hibino said.

The game was tied at seven midway through the first quarter before Magenheim and Lenihan keyed a 6-1 run to close the quarter.

The seesaw affair continued through the second as well as neither team could open more than a five point margin. Magenheim’s basket in the final moments of the half sent Andover to the break with a 25-21 lead.

South responded to begin the third, outscoring Andover by six to take the lead and set up the frantic fourth quarter.

“We knew how dangerous some of their girls were and we made a concentrated effort to make it as hard for them as we could,” Hibino said.