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GREENSBORO -- Welcome to the party, Ragsdale. Now what are you going to do for an encore?

Invited to the Pizza Hut Invitational for the first time, the Tigers proved they belonged and then some, winning the title with a 43-38 victory over Northwest Guilford in Saturday's championship game.

"For the past three years, all we've heard is 'Ragsdale's not good enough to play in this tournament,'" said senior center Lisa Archie, who scored 20 points and was named MVP of the field. "It feels really good to show we wanted it."

The undersized Vikings, whose tallest starter is 5-foot-11, threw everything they had at the bigger and quicker Tigers, but Ragsdale kept finding ways to get the ball inside, particularly to the 6-foot-3 Archie. She scored six points during an early 13-2 run.

"In stretches, we were effective," Vikings assistant coach Jeremy Autry said. "But they do a good job doing what they do, and they're well-coached that they keep trying to pound it."

The Vikings are usually sharp enough shooters to negate their lack of size, but their touch went cold on this night. Their junior backcourt anchors, Hannah McIntosh and Gretchen Bennett, combined to shoot 4-of-20; the rest of the team, 7-of-23.

A 3-pointer by Bennett that would have tied it with 30 seconds left rolled out.

"We had opportunities," Autry said. "Sometimes shots bounce your way, and sometimes they don't."

Northwest pieced together an 8-2 second-quarter run to get within five, a letdown Tigers head coach Jerry Fuqua attributed to his girls' adrenaline rush wearing off. "I had kids calling for the tired signal that never call for it," Fuqua said. "They got so high, they had to come back down."

But point guard Dorian McInnis, who returned to the Tigers lineup this weekend after missing almost a month with an ankle injury, hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds before the half to put Ragsdale up by eight at the break. The Tigers kept Northwest at bay with a 43-28 rebounding edge, including 11 by junior Lindsay Lee.

Courtney Arrington, who was named to the all-tournament team along with Bennett and McIntosh, added nine points and nine rebounds.

Northwest, which was making its fifth title game appearance in six years, got as close as one in the second half, but the Vikings missed a few key free throws and Ragsdale hit them when they needed to, including a pair by Ciara Jackson in the closing seconds to make it a two-possession game.

The Tigers have now handed Northwest two of its three losses this season. "To come out of nowhere and take it," Fuqua said, "it's pretty satisfying."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com.

Ragsdale (9-4) -- Lisa Archie 20, Courtney Arrington 9, Dorian McInnis 6, Lindsay Lee 6, Ciara Jackson 2.

Northwest Guilford (10-3) -- Gretchen Bennett 7, Natalie Harper 7, Hannah McIntosh 6, Harmony White 5, Melisa Foures 4, Michelle Williams 4, Mari Furr 3, Kaitlyn Shelton 2.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Chevena Pickard, Page; Lakendra Wilkerson, Smith; Hannah McIntosh, Northwest Guilford; Gretchen Bennett, Northwest Guilford; Courtney Arrington, Ragsdale; MVP: Lisa Archie, Ragsdale. SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Tifany Lucas, Grimsley.