Basketball Recap: Ridgecroft Comes Up Short

It was a good run, but Ridgecroft unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Friday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 71-70 to the Lawrence Academy Warriors. The Rams were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Warriors earlier this season, when they won 68-61.

Ridgecroft's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Javion Leary, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and ten boards, and Antron Gray, who went 9 for 18 on his way to 22 points along with seven assists and five rebounds. The dominant performance gave Leary a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Frank Jones, who posted nine points and five boards.

Even though they lost, Ridgecroft smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in six consecutive games.

Lawrence Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Carter Hoggard, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 15 rebounds. Hoggard has become a key player for Lawrence Academy: the team is 6-3 when he posts at least ten boards, but 4-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Woodard, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds.

Ridgecroft's loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 5-1 and their overall record down to 13-5. As for Lawrence Academy, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-8.

Ridgecroft does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Lawrence Academy, they will take on West Craven at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Lawrence Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 11 contests -- so hopefully West Craven likes a good challenge.