MERRY HILL – Ridgecroft School got off to a fast start.

Then the Eagles of Northeast Academy roared back.

In the end, however, the fast start was good enough as the Rams defeated rival Northeast 45-36 in the Consolation game of the Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Tournament sponsored by United Country Joe Murray Realty and the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.

Ridgecroft led 17-4 after one quarter and eventually pushed the lead to 24-4, but Northeast was able to cut the lead to just five (34-29) near the end of the third quarter.

Ryan Beggs scored his only two points of the contest by hitting the first basket of the game just 18 seconds into the contest. That was followed by a pair of free throws from Kinchen Taylor and a hoop by Nathan Pearce as Ridgecroft led 6-0.

Clay Robbins answered with a hoop for Northeast and the teams exchanged hoops before Michael Byrum buried a triple for Ridgecroft and Pearce came back with another hoop. Landon Larabee then added consecutive hoops to give Ridgecroft a 13-4 lead after one quarter.

Austin Britton started the second period with back-to-back hoops and Ridgecroft pushed their lead to 24-4 before James Pope and Will Glover had consecutive buckets for the Eagles to close the gap to 24-8.

Ridgecroft responded with a Pearce score and a Britton three-pointer as they pushed the lead back past 20 (29-8).

Northeast, however, scored six of the final seven points of the first half thanks to a hoop from Glover and free throws from Pope as they closed to within 30-14 heading into halftime.

Robbins hit the first hoop of the third quarter and then Harrell buried a three to close the Eagles within 30-19 before a bucket by Taylor.

An exchange of hoops left Northeast trailing by 13 (34-21) before they went on an 8-0 spurt. Glover led the charge with six of those points while Harrell added two.

Glover hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left in the period to close the gap to 34-29, but Taylor hit a three-pointer on the other end that was the dagger to the comeback.

Pearce hit the first hoop of the fourth quarter to push the lead back to double digits (39-29).

Northeast, however, refused to quit as Pope hit a triple to close the gap to seven.

Britton, however, had consecutive hoops and Byrum added a bucket with 3:08 to play that made it 43-32.

Harrell and Brad Johnson had the final two hoops of the contest for Northeast, but Ridgecroft secured the nine-point win.