AHOSKIE – Terra Ceia Christian School locked up at least a share of the Tarheel Independent Conference title here Tuesday night.

The Knights edged Ridgecroft School 65-59 and avenged an earlier season loss to the Rams. In the process, they gained a spot atop the league standings.

Terra Ceia was led by mid-season transfer Mychael Parker, who had 23 points on the evening, while junior center Bradley Van Staalduinen chipped in 20 points.

Ridgecroft got 17 points from senior Chris Hill, who continues to play with a broken right hand, to go along with 14 points from classmate Bryan Britton and 11 from Evans Jones.

The contest was a war from the beginning as the teams were tied at three, eight and 10 in the early going before Hendrick Van Dorp gave the Knights a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

After the Rams tied the contest at 14 following a John Alexander hoop and two Britton free throws, Terra Ceia began to pull away. The knights closed the first half on an 11-2 run that was sparked by Van Dorp’s four points and a triple by Parker. TCCS led 30-21 at the intermission.

Britton and Matt Byrum hit back-to-back shots to open the third quarter, but Parker responded with three straight hoops to push the TCCS lead to 36-25.

Ridgecroft rallied during the closing minutes of the quarter, going on a 7-0 tear to get within four (38-34). Hill sparked the spurt with a three-pointer and also added a deuce.

Terra Ceia refused to let Ridgecroft get a foothold, however, as Van Staalduinen hit a bucket and a triple to push the lead back to nine (43-36).

Ridgecroft closed within four twice in the next four minutes, but each time the Knights were able to hold them at that distance.

With 2:10 to play, Jones hit a triple that cut the Ridgecroft deficit to 56-53. Parker answered with a triple of his own, but Britton scored to get the Rams within four (59-55) yet again.

From there, the Knights were able to hit 4-of-6 from the line to preserve the win.

The loss dropped Ridgecroft into second place in the TIC with a 6-3 mark and secured at least a tie atop the league for Terra Ceia at 7-2.

TCCS (65): Mychael Parker n 23, Bradley Van Staalduinen n 20, D. Joyner n 7, H. Van Dorp n 6, G. Van Essendelft n 5, H. Davenport n 4

Ridgecroft (59): Chris Hill n 17, Bryan Britton n 14, Evans Jones n 11, J. Morris n 8, J. Alexander n 5, M. Byrum – 4