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By ANDRE ALFRED

Sports Correspondent

PUNGO- This year the Tarheel Independence Conference (TIC) Tournament was held at Pungo Christian Academy where the girl’s championship would be decided between the Lawrence Academy Lady Warriors and the Ridgecroft School Lady Rams.

The Warriors held the number one seed with an 8-0 conference record, while the Rams tied for the second-place seed (4-4) with Albemarle School.

Lawrence had swept Ridgecroft in regular season play, winning by wide margins in both contests (64-35 and 60-18).

The tournament championship game was basically decided in the second quarter where Lawrence used an 18-2 scoring advantage to build a lead they never would surrender en route to winning the TIC title, 51-45.

Trailing 11-8 two and one-half minutes into the second period, Lawrence held the Lady Rams scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.

Camy Pippins kicked the Warriors offense into gear with back-to-back baskets followed by a three-point bomb by Clair Ferebee, allowing Lawrence to build a 15-11 lead.

Prior to the end of the period, Ellie Farmer connected on a two-pointer and a trey while Ferebee dialed up another long distance shot as the Lady Warriors built a 24-11 halftime lead.

By the time Ridgecroft’s Hannah Slaughter finally took the lid off her team’s basket with a made field goal 50 seconds into the third quarter, the Lady Rams were staring at a 28-11 deficit.

Lawrence’s lead climbed to 32-13 highlighted by a basket and two free throws from Claire Smith.

Sparked by the play of Slaughter, Lacey Berryman, and Kaitlyn Cordrey, Ridgecroft rallied to within eight points (36-28) with 1:47 left in the period, but trailed by 11 (39-28) at the end of the quarter.

Two-point baskets by Jaslene Etheridge and Smith sandwiched around Farmer’s trifecta extended Lawrence’s lead to 15 (47-32).

The Lady Rams had one final push, using a deuce each from Slaughter and Klaire Cherry plus Berryman’s three-pointer to highlight a rally that sliced their deficit to eight (50-42) with 2:46 remaining.

Lawrence left the rally door open for the Rams by connecting on just 1-of-8 free throws down the stretch, but Ridgecroft misfired on several shots and only scored on two made free throws by Cordrey with 13 seconds left which accounted for the final score.

Both teams struggled from the free throw line throughout the game. Lawrence was 11-of-29 while Ridgecroft finished 11-of-27.

Smith, who was named as the TIC’s Player of the Year, led the Lady Warriors with 15 points. Farmer, selected as the Tournament MVP, finished with 10 points while Etheridge (9), Ferebee (7) and Pippins (7) added significantly to the Lawrence win.

Slaughter scored a game-high 17 points to pace Ridgecroft. Berryman also struck for double digits with 11 points and Klaire Cherry added 8 points.

The season continues for both teams as they each earned a berth in the NCISAA State Tournament, which begins this week.

Lawrence (16-6 overall) is seeded #2 in the 12-team playoffs and received a bye in the opening round. On Friday (Feb. 14) they will host the first round winner of Southeastern Christian Academy and Pungo Christian Academy.

Ridgecroft (15-6 overall) is seeded #4 and was also awarded an opening round bye. The Lady Rams, on Friday, will host the winner of the first round matchup between Statesville Christian School and Halifax Academy.