MERRY HILL – Bryan Britton and Chris Mizelle each scored more than 20 points to pace Ridgecroft to a 74-54 win over Lawrence Academy here Friday night.

The Rams, who improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 inside the Tarheel Independent Conference, used the scoring from those two to compensate for Lawrence senior Chad Simmons’ 20 points to secure the league victory.

Lawrence took an early lead when Andrew Barber started the scoring for the contest. A minute after Mizelle’s first bucket for the Rams, Simmons hit a pair of free throws to put Lawrence up 4-2. Wes Ward hit 1-of-2 from the line to trim the deficit to one, but Jobie Thomas drained a trey to put the Warriors ahead 7-3.

It was three straight hoops off Britton’s hands that helped Ridgecroft rally. After those three buckets, the Rams held a 9-7 advantage.

Simmons deadlocked the game at 9-all, but Mizelle and Drew Jones hit back-to-back hoops to close the first quarter and give Ridgecroft a 13-9 lead.

The advantage was trimmed to two when the Rams launched a 15-0 run in the second quarter.

Ward got the spurt started with a hoop that came with just over six minutes to play.

Britton and Jones combined for three free throws before Mizelle hit a hoop at the 4:29 mark that put Ridgecroft ahead 22-13.

Mizelle followed that shot with another bucket before adding a trey at the 2:47 mark of the second and a deuce at the 2:00 mark to give Ridgecroft a 29-13 edge.

After a Britton free throw made it 30-13, Barber and Thomas hit consecutive shots for Lawrence to cut the lead to 30-17 at the intermission.

The Warriors rallied to cut the lead to eight (35-27) midway through the third quarter, thanks to hoops by Judd Whitehead and Thomas and a three-pointer from Barber.

Ridgecroft used an 8-0 run to pull away again. Britton, Mizelle, Ward and Jones all scored during the spurt that put Ridgecroft ahead 43-27.

The lead remained at or near double figures throughout the third quarter with the period ending as the Rams held a 48-36 lead.

A 10-1 run in the fourth sealed the victory for Ridgecroft and dropped Lawrence to 2-6 on the season and 0-1 inside the TIC.

Despite being without the services of Will Jones, who missed the game due to illness, first-year skipper Elton Winslow said he felt the Rams played well.

&uot;We did a good job in the third quarter with our zone defense,&uot; Winslow said. &uot;I was also pleased that we were patient on offense in the fourth quarter.

&uot;We did a good job on the boards,&uot; he added. &uot;This is a good win for us.&uot;

Ridgecroft (74): Bryan Britton – 23, Chris Mizelle – 20, Wes Ward – 14, Drew Jones – 10, M. Edwards – 7

Lawrence (54): Chad Simmons – 20, Judd Whitehead – 15, A. Barber – 8, J. Thomas – 7, J. Griesedieck – 4.