MERRY HILL – The Warriors won game three at home in a single week Friday.

Lawrence Academy’s varsity boys team knocked off Ridgecroft School 56-36 Friday after already defeating Bethel Christian Academy and Northeast Academy as they improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Tarheel Independent Conference.

Friday night, the Warriors got off to a slow start and Ridgecroft took advantage as the Rams raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest.

Austin Britton had back-to-back buckets to start the run followed by free throws from Ryan Beggs and a hoop by Michael Byrum to give the Rams an 8-0 lead at the 4:54 mark of the first period.

Unfortunately for Ridgecroft, Lawrence controlled the remainder of the first period, scoring 14 unanswered to lead 14-8.

Willie Bass broke Lawrence’s scoring drought with a free throw at the 3:40 mark and then Trace Larabee added one from the charity stripe as he closed the gap to 8-2 with 3:04 to play.

Larabee then buried a three-pointer at the 2:37 mark that was followed by hoops from Cade Larabee and a triple by Travis Whitehead which, coupled with four free throws, gave Lawrence the 14-8 edge.

Ridgecroft opened the second period with a Nathan Pearce bucket to close the gap to four (14-10).

Trace Larabee and Bobby Edwards then exchanged three-pointers before Whitehead and Edwards swapped baskets to leave the Lawrence lead at four (19-15).

The Warriors, however, got a basket from Cade Larabee and then a field goal from Chase Stevens to push the lead to 23-15 before a pair of Cade Larabee free throws gave the Warriors a 25-15 halftime edge.

The third quarter saw the Rams again whittle the Lawrence lead to four. Byrum had a free throw and a field goal to start the quarter, but Stephens hit a bucket for the Warriors.

Byrum came right back, however, scoring twice from the charity stripe and burying a three-pointer to close the gap to 27-23 with 4:44 to play in the third quarter.

Lawrence again pulled away, however, when Trace Larabee hit 1-of-2 from the line and then he and Cade Larabee had back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead to 34-23 with 2:26 to play.

Whitehead then had consecutive hoops for the Warriors as Lawrence pushed their lead to 38-23 with 1:13 to play in the third quarter.

Britton finally stopped the run with a bucket for Ridgecroft at the 1:05 mark, but Cade Larabee answered that score to give Lawrence a 40-25 lead heading into the final period of play.

Ridgecroft started the fourth quarter well with Pearce and Britton sandwiching buckets around a Byrum free throw as they closed within 40-30, but Lawrence pulled away again, rolling off seven straight moments later to lead 53-34.

The Warriors never looked back as they pulled away for the win.

Trace Larabee led the Warriors with a double-double, recording 10 rebounds to go with his 20 points. Cade Larabee added 16 and Whitehead had nine. Bass scored six points and pulled down eight boards.

Byrum led Ridgecroft with 14 points while Britton had eight and Landon Larabee had five. Pearce added four.

The Warriors will be back in action tonight (Tuesday) when they host Columbia High School in a non-conference contest. The Rams (2-5, 1-1) will be off until the Greater Lasker Shootout at the end of December.