The Educational Complex Barracudas’ Ryan Pirpie scored all nine of his points in the critical fourth quarter and his team was able to turn away a frantic rally by the host Central High School Caribs on their way to a hard-fought 61-52 victory Saturday night at the Ronald Charles Gymnasium.

The Caribs had rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 35-35 midway through the third quarter and the teams would play evenly until Pirpie went to work.

Led by eight first quarter points from Amali Krigger, the Barracudas outscored the Caribs 15-11 in the opening period.

The Barracudas defense went to work in the second quarter and held their host to just six points while scoring 16 to jump out to a 31-17 lead at the half.

It looked as if the Caribs were in danger of being blown off the floor and out of their own gym by the visiting Barracudas, but with a never-say-die attitude, the Caribs opened the third quarter on an 18-4 run to knot the game at 35, to the delight of their now fully awake fans.

That would be as far as the Caribs would get, and a late basket gave the Barracudas a two-point lead at 37-35 at the end of the third period.

It was still anybody’s game midway through the fourth, with the Barracudas holding a slight advantage, when the Caribs lost star point guard Kadeem Jones to severe leg cramps. The Barracudas would end up outscoring the Caribs 24-17 in the fourth period on their way to the 61-52 victory.

The Barracudas’ balanced attack, in which 10 of the 11 players on the bench scored, were led by a team-high 10 points from Krigger. They got nine points apiece from Pirpie and Melvin Adams. The Caribs were led by Razeem Huggins, who finished with a game-high 16 points and Jose Bultez who netted 10.