AHOSKIE – Despite several comeback attempts, Ridgecroft School suffered a 61-41 loss to visiting Oakwood School Thursday night.

Emily Cooke scored 20 points and added five rebounds for the Lady Rams while Tayler Smith had five points, six boards and a pair of assists. Miller Bryant added six points and three rebounds while Brice Harrison had six points.

“We did well rebounding the basketball tonight,” said second-year skipper Susan Oliver. “We played fairly well, we just ran out of steam.”

Oakwood got out to an early 6-0 start thanks to a pair of hoops by Harmony Simpkins and a bucket by TeAmber Burke.

Ridgecroft rallied back when Sara Hackney scored to start a 5-0 Lady Rams run. Smith added the other three points with a three-point play that closed the gap to 6-5.

After a Burke free throw, Harrison scored to tie the game at 7-all. She had another hoop moments later that give Ridgecroft a 9-7 advantage.

Unfortunately, for Ridgecroft, it was the last bucket they would score in the first quarter as Simpkins hit a deuce followed by seven unanswered from Burke as the Lady Eagles took a 16-9 edge.

Oakwood extended its lead to 20-9 after successive hoops by Simpkins and Lauren Moore to open the second quarter.

The Lady Rams battled back, however, getting a hoop from Smith and back-to-back scores from Cooke before Harrison scored at the 2:26 mark of the second quarter to get the Rams within 20-17.

Simpkins rolled off two straight baskets for Oakwood to push the lead back to 24-17, but Cooke hit from the floor just as time expired in the first half to close the gap to 24-19.

Hackney got the first bucket of the second half to close the gap to three (24-21), but the Rams got no closer as Moore hit successive hoops followed by two straight from Burke as Oakwood extended their advantage to 32-21.

Bryant scored for Ridgecroft to stop the spurt and then Cooke hit a pair from the free throw line at the 4:48 mark of the third quarter to close it to 32-25.

After Burke hit two free throws, Cooke scored and Harrison added a free throw to close the gap to six (34-28).

Burke then hit a pair of free throws and a hoop to push the lead back to 10.

Ridgecroft got as close as nine after a Cooke free throw, but Simpkins scored in the closing seconds of the third quarter to give Oakwood a 42-31 advantage.

The Lady Eagles scored the first 13 in the fourth quarter to pull away and secure the victory.

Oakwood’s biggest advantage came at the free throw line where they attempted nearly twice as many shots as Ridgecroft (19-9).

The Lady Rams will be back in Tarheel Independent Conference play Tuesday night when they play host to rival Northeast Academy.