AHOSKIE – The third annual Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Basketball Tournament is in the books.

On Friday night inside the Revelle Gymtorium on the campus of Ridgecroft School, Northeast Academy’s varsity girls and boys basketball teams made themselves right at home as they laid claim to the championship hardware.

Over on the junior varsity side of the final night’s action, Ridgecroft’s girls and Lawrence Academy’s boys grabbed the first-place trophies.

But the most important part of this event was to help these student-athletes in their endeavors to seek a higher education. Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals, three scholarships were handed out from a list of 11 highly qualified finalists. Betty Edwards (Northeast) and Bardin Murray (Ridgecroft) were each honored with a $500 scholarship. For the first time in the short history of this event, a $1,000 scholarship was awarded. That honor went to Jeff White of Northeast Academy.

Additionally, the tournament raised money for the Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship at Virginia Tech University. Brantley, the son of Joyce and Keith Brantley of the Center Grove community in Bertie County, was a standout basketball player at Ridgecroft before graduating from Virginia Tech. Later, as a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, he was killed in 2005 during a training exercise off the North Carolina coast.

See Tuesday’s print edition and online for more stories from the tournament.