AHOSKIE – It may not have been the game they hoped for, but it was the outcome they were aiming to see.

Ocracoke High School won the seventh annual Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Tournament with a 23-19 victory over Southampton Academy in a low-scoring game.

Lucy O’Neal, who was named Most Valuable Player of the event following the game, led Ocracoke with 10 points while Alin Tellez, an All-Tournament selection, had nine.

O’Neal got things started with a two-point field goal early in the contest and then Josie Winstead added a free throw before Tellez and Katie O’Neal had back-to-back triples to get Ocracoke out to a 9-0 lead.

Sara Best, an All-Tournament selection, stopped the run with a hoop of her own and Morgan Pope added a bucket to close the gap to 9-4 by the end of the first quarter.

Lucy O’Neal had the first hoop of the second quarter, but Barclay Gatten had a free throw and Kate Washsm added a hoop as the Lady Raiders got within 11-7.

Lucy O’Neal then sandwiched hoops around a Morgan Pope bucket for Southampton and the Lady Dolphins led 15-9.

Best, however, scored before the intermission and cut the lead back to four heading into the locker room.

While the third quarter only saw nine points scored, six of them came on three-pointer from Tellez answered only by a Pope bucket and a free throw from Best as Ocracoke surged ahead 21-14.

Southampton was far from done, however, as Gatten scored to open the fourth quarter and closed the gap to a single bucket.

Neither team found the basket until Pope hit a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left to close the gap to a single possession (21-18).

Lucy O’Neal, however, slammed the door on the comeback with a hoop at the 32-second mark, putting the game out of reach. Pope added one free throw, but that score established the final.

Joining O’Neal, Tellez and Best on the All-Tournament Team were Gatten and Ocracoke’s Alma Flores. Rounding out the team were Kelsie Conner of Bethel Christian and Hennie Larabee of Ridgecroft School.

The win gave the Lady Dolphins their first title in the Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Tournament in their first year of participation.

The Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Tournament is presented jointly by the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald and United Country Joe Murray Realty.