Boys Basketball: Rich South’s Ritter could be happier

Updated: January 3, 2012 7:17PM

A 13-4 start to the season would please most coaches.

Rich South coach Scot Ritter, however, sees room for improvement from his squad.

“When we share the ball and play hard, we’re pretty good,” he said. “We will get better.”

Ritter was none too pleased with his team’s effort during the McDipper semifinal loss to Bloom. The Stars fell 69-57 and ultimately finished in third place.

“We came out flat against Bloom,” Ritter said. “We had a chance to get to the championship of our own tournament and we walked around. There was no reason for us to be nervous.”

Ritter was happy, though, with the way his team responded in the third-place game against Seton, earning a 70-62 win.

What Ritter wants to see is better play from his guards. Marvin Williams, Ralph Abraham, Jalen McCaskill and Jaylen Zachary have shown flashes of playing the type of ball Ritter demands.

“Our guard play has been so inconsistent,” he said. “It’s not where we need it to be to make a run in the playoffs. We have to be patient and run our stuff. We have to make good decisions and not turn the ball over. We did that against Seton. We got into our sets, shared the basketball and got good shots.”

The same recipe will be required when the Stars travel to Bloom on Friday night. Ritter is hopeful his team will come to play.

“I told them after the (McDiper semi), the bad thing was we didn’t give ourselves a chance by not playing hard. The good thing is we have them again in a week,” he said.

One area Ritter is pleased with is the play of John Ruffin, who is averaging 12 points and 11.4 rebounds. Ruffin has come to play every game.

“John is so strong,” Ritter said of his 6-foot-5 senior. “He does such a good job sealing people.”

All-McDipper honors

A number of local players made the McDipper 39 All-Tournament Team: Bloom’s L.J. Johnson and Johnny Griffin; Crete-Monee’s LaQuon Treadwell, Mark Conner and Marvie Keith; Seton’s Mark Weems Jr. and J.R. Tolliver; Rich South’s Ralph Abraham and Ruffin; Thornton’s Brian Nicholson; Rich East’s Ronald Lawton; Marian Catholic’s Tyler Ulis.

Bloom’s Donald Moore was named tournament MVP.

Did you know ...

Of St. Rita’s five losses, only one has been to a team from Illinois.

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