By Tommy Bryant

Sports Writer

LASKER – Northeast Academy gave a valiant effort, but it wasn’t enough.

Hobgood Academy visited their long-time rivals Friday night and secured the top spot in the Tarheel Independent Conference with a 50-26 Senior Night win over the Lady Eagles.

The visiting Lady Raiders showed why they rank so high in the TIC as they scored the first seven points before Ivey Little stopped the spurt with a free throw.

The Raiders added another bucket before Mollie Cocke got Northeast’s first hoop from the floor with 3:16 to play in the quarter.

Hobgood, however, rolled off the final four points to lead 13-3 after one period of play.

The Lady Raiders added to that lead to open the second quarter, scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the period stopped only by an Ashton Liverman score. The result was a 23-5 lead for the visiting team.

Northeast responded over the last four minutes of the quarter, however, holding the Raiders to just one field goal while scoring seven points of their own.

Liverman started the spurt with a three-pointer that was followed by a hoop from Kaylen Rose. Liverman added another hoop before the period’s end to close Northeast to within 25-12 at the intermission.

The third quarter was relatively low-scoring with the Raiders tallying 10 points and Northeast countering with seven. The result was a 35-19 lead for Hobgood heading into the final period.

In the final quarter, Hobgood outscored Northeast 15-7 to secure the victory.

Despite the loss, the Eagles finished third in the TIC. They will square off with Albemarle School Tuesday night in the first round of the TIC tournament. That contest will be at Ridgecroft School.