Ragsdale led 33-32, but neither team had been able to put together any kind of offensive run since the Tigers’ Adrianne Bradshaw went four for four from the field in the first quarter.
But, early in the final period, the Tiger guards again looked for and found the 6-foot-3 sophomore open inside. The result was four straight baskets, one converted into a three-point play, which paved the way to a 49-39 Ragsdale victory.
The victors’ coach Jerry Fuqua would like to have seen his team take advantage of the size edge inside earlier. Following the eight-point first quarter, his tall center took only four shots and scored just one basket during the middle quarters.
“We get a little carried away with our perimeter game sometimes,” he said. “The thing the players don’t always realize is that putting the ball inside opens up the outside game.”
The loss idles the Vikings until next Tuesday when they are scheduled to play at Piedmont, the third seed from the South Piedmont Conference, in the first round of the 3-A state playoffs.
With the loss, the Vikings, the fourth seed from their conference, fall to 7-8 in league action and 15-10 overall. The Tigers improved to 7-7 and 12-12.
The cold-shooting home team sank just 25 percent of its field goal attempts for the game. Bolstered by Bradshaw’s nine for 12, Ragsdale made a respectable 42 percent of its shots. Senior Shana Brooks led the Vikings with 14 points. Bradshaw scored 19 and Jasman Walsan had 14 for the Tigers.
After trailing most of the first half, sophomore Ashley Jones tied the game at 21-21 for the Vikings with a short jumper. Ashley Sunnucks scored the last basket of the half to give the Tigers a 23-21 lead at the break.
In one of the few times in the game that the Vikings scored on consecutive possessions, Brooks connected on a pair of threes to put her team in front 27-25 in the third quarter. But that was the last time her team would enjoy the lead.
Union Pines coach Matt Hrbek was disappointed in the result against a team the Vikings had beaten twice during the regular season.
“I felt before the game we didn’t have the energy we should have,” he said. “They (Ragsdale) did exactly what they wanted to do at the end of the game, and we couldn’t stop it.”
Ragsdale 12 11 10 15 — 48
Union Pines 9 12 11 7 — 39
Ragsdale — Sunnucks 1 0-1 2, Weast 1 3-5 5, Kennedy 2 0-1 5, Hukill 0 2-2 2, Bradshaw 9 1-1 19, Beck 1 0-2 2, Walsan 6 2-2 14. Totals – 20 8-14 49.
Union Pines — Belk 2 2-3 7, Fields 0 0-0 0, Jackson 5 1-2 11, Brooks 5 2-4 14, Oxendine 2 0-0 5, Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Jones 1 0-0 2, Bowe 0 0-0 0, Cummings 0 0-0 0. Totals – 14 5-9 39.
Three-point goals: Ragsdale 1 (Kennedy); Union Pines 4 (Brooks 2, Belk, Oxendine).
