Ritzler drops in 30 points, Senecas top rival Chieftains 55-40

In the grand scheme of things, the Hopewell-Loudon-Calvert basketball game Tuesday night meant absolutely nothing. But there certainly wasn't any mention of that to the players, coaches and fans in the best rivalry in Seneca County.Both teams have been eliminated from league contention for a few weeks, but playing high-intensity, tournament-like games just a week before the postseason begins is huge for both sides. It was also evident that the game meant something to Calvert senior guard Logan Ritzler, who torched the Chieftains for a game-high 30 points in the Senecas' 55-40 SBC River win."It's Hopewell … so it's always a big rivalry game. We've been preaching in practice that we wanted to get them back from the first time (47-32 loss in Bascom)," Ritzler said after tallying his second 30-point night this season. "I feel like our offense was connected on everything tonight, making the extra passes and playing outstanding defense. "Last week, I wasn't really feeling myself and the other day coached pulled me aside and told me to get out of my own head, which really helped me out. I got out of my head and now I'm just making shots."Both teams came out firing in the opening minutes as both sides hit two 3-points apiece, but it was Calvert (13-7, 9-4 SBC River) that made the first move. After a Collin Smith triple that put H-L (11-10, 7-6) ahead 6-5, Calvert answered with a 9-1 run to end the first period as Ritzler tallied seven points.Calvert resumed control of the game in the second until H-L went on a 10-2 scoring burst as Ashton Miller poured in five points and Brickman tallied the other five to bring the Chieftains within 22-19 late in the first half. But then Ritzler scored on a layup and then drilled a trey and then Grady Otterbacher scored a fingeroll with 3.4 ticks left in the half to give the Senecas a 29-22 edge at the half."That first matchup left a bad taste in our mouth, so we've been pushing, grinding and just empowering our kids to be successful. Put them in spots to be successful, play with high energy and effort," Senecas coach Jon Otterbacher said. "The last couple weeks things are finally starting to click and the kids are finding the spots where they need to be successful. Even today, we controlled the tempo and pace of the game."All in all, it was a good effort by the whole team. Logan did an exceptional job scoring 30 points again … knowing when to drive to the basket and when to settle for the three, he did a great job of that in the second half."The third quarter belonged to Ritzler. He began the quarter scoring the first 13 Calvert points to give the Senecas a 42-25 advantage before Otterbacher splashed a triple to get the score to 45-26 late in the period. H-L battled back to get within 45-31 entering the fourth, but by then, the Senecas controlled the ball and didn't let the Chieftains back in it.Ritzler had his whole game working on offense from the outside and his ability to drive through contact and finish at the rim – definitely something he's worked hard at over his four years as a Seneca. He's certainly more than just a 3-point shooter nowadays."We've had that evolution out of him offensively and defensively," Otterbacher said about his senior guard. "I remember his sophomore year we're playing at Woodmore his sophomore year and they're playing a 2-3 zone and guarding Gavin (Wagner) inside, so we couldn't get anything going, so I put him in and had to scream at him, 'You're not on the floor to play defense.' So, he started shooting the ball and it opened up their zone, but now he's an all-around player and can score from all three levels. "Yes, he can shoot threes, but now he's driven to be a good defender on and off the ball, so that makes him so much more efficient as a basketball player."H-L never gave in Tuesday as it got within 51-40 with 2:47 left in the contest after a triple from Collin Smith and a bucket from Miller, but the Chieftains were held scoreless for the final 2:47 of the game."We had it to 13 (point lead), we stopped them two times in a row and had chances to cut it to nine there, and you never know what happens if you get it under 10 late in the game," H-L coach Roger Jury said. "I told the kids that (Ritzler) hit some big shots where we lost him on screens, and then he just stepped back for a couple, so even though he's a good shooter, Calvert doesn't typically take those shots because he was feeling it tonight. That's why you don't want to be down by six or nine because if a kid catches fire and hits three 3s in a row, then you put yourself in a bind."Look at positives, we did some different things in the second half that we don't normally do, but (Ritzler) deserves a lot of credit, he played really well tonight. That's also good for us to see as the tournament is coming up because we're gonna face some more players that can score and shoot it like that. When we were down 16 or 18 and we had chances to get it under 10 in the second half, that's the kids of kids we have."Miller led the Chieftains with 13 points, while Smith and Brickman each chipped in nine.Otterbacher and Max Herbert each added eight points for the Senecas. Calvert 55, Hopewell-Loudon 40H-L (11-10, 7-6 SBC River): Ashton Miller 6-0-13; Brody Brickman 4-1-9; Dexter Stacy 0-2-2; Collin Smith 3-0-9; Sam Humphrey 0-0-0; Kellen Frankart 2-1-7. Totals: 15-4-40.Calvert (13-7, 9-4): Grady Otterbacher 3-0-8; Logan Ritzler 10-3-30; Emman Moreno 0-0-0; Max Herbert 3-2-8; Tucker Coleman 0-0-0; Logan DeMoss 2-0-4; Ethan Baugher 0-1-1; Vincenzo Lyons 1-2-4. Totals: 17-8-55.H-L&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;9&emsp;&emsp;9&emsp;&emsp;– 40Calvert&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;– 55Field goals: H-L 15-36; Calvert 20-383-point goals: H-L 6-14 (Smith 3, Frankart 2, Miller); Calvert 7-18 (Ritzler 5, Otterbacher 2)Foul shots: H-L 4-9; Calvert 8-9Rebounds: H-L 21; Calvert 24Turnovers: H-L 11; Calvert 7