Any time the Richmond Ninth Grade Academy Raider Green and Raider Gold freshman boys basketball teams get together on the hardwood, fans can usually expect to strap themselves in for a wild ride.

Thursday night’s second of two annual meetings between the two intra-school rivals was no different, as the two teams battled for the better part of three and a half quarters before Raider Green was able to pull away late for a 60-48 win, avenging an earlier loss to the Gold boys.

As is usually the case when these two teams play, it was a tug-of-war all night long. Raider Green jumped out to an early 9-4 advantage, only to see Raider Gold rip off a quick 6-0 spurt to take a 10-9 lead.

Then it was Raider Green’s turn for a 6-0 run, as the Green boys surged back out to a 15-10 lead. Raider Green led 18-15 at the first stop.

The second quarter featured more of the same, as Raider Green got out to a 25-19 lead. Raider Gold battled back to tie the game at 25 with about two minutes left until halftime, and Raider Green held a razor-thin 28-27 lead at intermission.

Raider Gold hung close in the third, and Raider Green led by four at 43-39 entering the decisive final period. Tyree Jamison, who led all scorers with 17 points on the night for Raider Green, had a pair of key 3-pointers in the stanza.

The outcome hung in the balance for much of the fourth quarter, until the 4:20 mark, when Raider Green — clinging to a 49-46 lead — went on a 9 -0 run to blitz out to a 12-point lead at 58-46 with 2:34 remaining, basically icing the game.

Raider Green coach Jay Jones eschewed his usual zone defense Thursday night in favor of a different approach — one that ended up paying off.

“We felt like we could match up with them man-to-man,” Jones said. “Our second group did a nice job tonight, and I felt like we were able to wear them down late. That made the difference.”

In addition to Jamison’s 17, Raider Green got 13 points from Travis Singleton and nine from Jhari Robinson.

Raider Gold was led by Kavon Orr, who had 15 points.

With the victory, Raider Green improved to 9-4 on the season. The Green boys wrap up the 2010-11 season on Monday at Lumberton. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Raider Gold travels to Hoke on Monday.

Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or by email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.