HOBGOOD – Ridgecroft dominated Hobgood Academy as the Rams rolled to a 73-31 victory Tuesday night.

The Rams came out firing in the first quarter, shooting seemingly at will, particularly from three-point range.

Ridgecroft hit six shots from beyond the arc in the quarter, including three from Evans Jones.

“Evans came out early and had the three three’s.

That allowed us to go inside because they had to put pressure on him at the perimeter,” said Ridgecroft head coach Tim Boone.

Hobgood scored first on a basket form Jeremy Joyner, but back-to-back three’s from Chris Hill and Josh Morris put the Rams out front, a lead they would not relinquish.

Following an Adam Whitehead foul shot the Rams rattled off eight straight points to extend their lead to 11 (14-3).

Michael Hale scored on David Vanderford’s pass to end the Ram’s run.

Jones answered with a trey.

Hale scored consecutive buckets to pull the Raiders within eight, 17-9.

Rams senior Bryan Britton scored a putback and a layup to give Ridgecroft a double digit lead.

Whitehead found the bucket but Jones hit nothing but net from beyond the arc as the Rams took a 24-11 lead at the end of the first.

Hobgood slowed down the tempo in the second to try and put their game plan in motion, but the Rams still dominated, outscoring the Raiders 18-5.

At the half Ridgecroft held a 42-16 advantage.

The Raiders continued to try and score from the inside, but the Rams defense held them to only three buckets in the second half.

Jordan Pendleton had the Raiders only three-pointer on the night, the final shot of the game.

Ridgecroft also controlled the boards, out-rebounding Hobgood 33-15.

This gave the Rams many second, third and even fourth shot opportunities.

“Player for player we played well and I’m pleased with the effort,” Boone said.

“I ask three things of my team n to play smart, give effort on every play, and play as a team.

If we do that we will be successful.

That’s all I can ask and that’s what they did.”

Hill tallied a double-double on the night with 20 points and 12 boards.

Britton also scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

The Rams sank nine shots from downtown.

In addition to Jones’s three, Hill and Win Joyner each scored two and Josh Morris had one.

The win improves the Rams to 2-1 in the Tarheel Independent Conference and 12-3 on the season.

Ridgecroft (73):Bryan Britton n 20, Chris Hill n 20, Evans Jones n 12, Win Joyner n 10, J. Morris n 7, M. Byrum n 2, J. Alexander n 2

Hobgood (31):

Adam Whitehead n 9, D. Vanderford n 8, J. Pendleton n 6, J. Joyner n 4, M. Hale – 4