AHOSKIE – That was quick.

Ridgecroft School entered Monday night’s first round contests in the Tarheel Independent Conference tournament second in the league. They squared off with seventh-rated Albemarle School.

It didn’t take long to figure out why the two teams finished as they did in the league as the Rams raced to a huge halftime lead and then put it in cruise control in the second half. Ridgecroft won the contest 76-26.

The Rams gave first-year Head Coach Chris Hill his initial victory in the league tourney and were clearly up to the challenge.

Julian Becker led all scorers by pouring in 32 points in the conference tournament victory. Senior Michael Byrum was nearly as good as he added 22 during the event.

Senior Austin Foster had another excellent night for the Rams as well. He tossed in 11 during the victory. Jordan Harrell also had a standout night with eight points. Max Boone rounded out the scoring with three points.

Albemarle was led by Troy Canders with eight points while Carson Spivey and Collin Smithson added five points each.

The Ridgecroft victory moves the team into Friday’s semifinal game where they will meet third-seeded Northeast Academy. The winner of that contest will move to Saturday’s championship contests.