AHOSKIE – Ridgecroft School evened things up.

The Lady Rams rolled to a 53-37 Tarheel Independent Conference win over Hobgood Academy here Friday. The victory helped the Rams avenge their only league loss and claim a tie atop the league standings.

Miller Bryant led the Ridgecroft attack with 14 points and 12 assists and missed a triple double by just two rebounds as she recorded eight on the night. Hennie Larabee added 12 points while Lauren Colson and Sara Hackney scored 10 each for the Lady Rams.

Schuyler Edmondson led all scorers with 22 for Hobgood.

‘We stepped up defensively especially in the second half,” Lady Rams’ skipper Susan Oliver said. “We especially did a much better job on Edmondson, who had 20 points in the first half.

“The girls played well,” she added. “This was a big win for us.”

Ridgecroft trailed 23-22 at the intermission, but took over in the third quarter. During that period, they held the visiting Raiders to six points while rolling off 15 of their own.

The quarter started with back-to-back buckets by Colson and Hackney as Ridgecroft took the lead for good.

Emily Thompson stopped the spurt with a field goal, but Colson hit 1-of-2 from the line and was followed by two free throws from Bryant and a bucket by Hackney as Ridgecroft pulled ahead 31-25.

Morgan Medford scored for the Lady Raiders, but Brice Harrison and Bryant had consecutive hoops as the Lady Rams continued to pull away with a 35-27 lead. They held the same eight-point edge (37-29) at the end of the third quarter.

Medford scored to close the gap as the fourth quarter began, but back-to-back buckets by Elizabeth Joyner and Hackney were followed by a free throw from Colson which gave Ridgecroft a 42-31 lead with 5:55 to play in the contest.

Edmondson scored and was followed by a hoop from Demi Barwick , but Bryant hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe and Hackney scored again as the Rams led by 10 (45-35).

Edmonson had Hobgood’s final score, closing the gap to 45-37, but Ridgecroft got two late hoops by Larabee and closed the game out at the free throw line.

Ridgecroft also led in the early going, taking a 15-9 lead after one quarter.

Hobgood got the game’s first two buckets, but Bryant buried a triple and Harrison scored from the free throw line to tie the game at 4-all. It was tied again at 7-all before Hackney’s free throw gave Ridgecroft an 8-7 lead.

Edmondson gave the Raiders the lead back, but Larabee had a hoop that was followed by five straight from Bryant as the Rams took the six-point edge.

Hobgood, however, outscored Ridgecroft 14-7 in the second period to take a one-point lead at the half. Edmondson did most of the damage with 11 points in the quarter.

The win boosted the Lady Rams to 16-3 overall and put them tied atop the TIC with a 10-1 mark. They will be back in action tonight (Tuesday) when they host Terra Ceia Christian School.