MERRY HILL – Lawrence Academy stayed close in their Tuesday TIC conference game with Ridgecroft before the Rams pulled away late and scored a 43-26 victory.

Riley Ratzlaff opened the game with a three-point basket for Lawrence. It would be the Warriors’ only lead of the night.

Relying on a tight zone defense, Lawrence kept the Rams from dribble penetration, but they could not convert at their end. Ridgecroft scored the other eight points remaining for the first quarter and nursed an 8-3 lead after the first.

Jason Guo drained a pair of free throws early in the second and got his team within one at 8-7 early in the frame. But Luther Glover and Grayson Joyner quickly answered for Ridgecroft at the other end of the floor and upped the Ram lead to five, 12-7. Lawrence got a free throw and a field goal to close out the quarter, but the period mostly belonged to the Rams, who upped their lead to 11 points, 21-10 by halftime.

Drew Davis opened the third quarter with a put back, then drilled a three pointer as part of a 7-0 Rams run that made it 28-10. Benson Zheng answered with a triple for Lawrence, cutting it to a 15-point deficit, before LAW got the last two buckets to make it 30-17 entering the final quarter of play.

After Ridgecroft doubled-up the home team, 34-17, Rams coach Kris Kahn emptied his bench. The subs allowed Lawrence to have their best run of the night, 7-0, that cut the Ridgecroft lead to 10, 34-24. But Blake Birdsong drained a trey to make it a 13-point lead before Brian Hughson’s driving lay-up got it back to 11, 37-26. The Ram reserves did the rest of the night’s scoring for the 17-point win and the top spot in the TIC boys standings at 2-0.

 

RIDGECROFT BOYS   (43)

Drew Davis-9, Blake Birdsong-8, Wyatt Liverman-6, Luther Glover-6, Dawson Rose-4, Shelton Bates-4, Grayson Joyner-4, Cade Harrell-2.

LAWRENCE BOYS   (26)

Riley Ratlaff-7, Brian Hughson-7, Jason Guo-6, Benson Zheng-6.