Boys Hoops: Ridgewood 48, Mitchell 46

Posted Nov 22, 2006 by Cristina Ledra

Updated Nov 22, 2006 at 12:35 AM

NEW PORT RICHEY-As Ridgewood’s Mike Lawrence stood at the foul line with six seconds remaining in the Rams’ opener at Mitchell, the score tied at 46 all he could think of was one thing - confidence.
Lawrence had been perfect at the line all night and now when his team needed him to continue that streak he sunk both baskets to give the Rams the 48-46 win Tuesday night.
Mitchell’s last-second shot rolled off the rim.
“You have to have confidence and I just had it in me and I pulled it out,” Lawrence said.
A game that came down to strategic fouls and down-to-the-wire free throws between two teams seemingly on the opposite ends of the county’s talent spectrum was the result of a sloppy first half. Both teams committed numerous turnovers and had baskets bounce of the rim.
The score was 8-5 in Ridgewood’s favor at the end of the first quarter.
“I think if we hit a few jumpers at any point in the game, the game’s different,” Ridgewood coach Gary Anders said. “We hit free throws in the first half and the game is different. But that’s part of the game. We were close to panic mode coming down the stretch and looking at that I’m sure we had to swallow our Adam’s apple a few times and that’s OK. That’s good. I told the kids I’d rather be in here particularly not happy with a win as opposed to losing the ballgame.”
Mitchell, which is supposed to be in a rebuilding year after losing 10 seniors, played zone defense and rebounded aggressively despite a significant height disadvantage. Ridgewood did not expect to see that type of defense from anyone this early in the season.
“Anytime you come close and put yourself in a position to win, the goal is to win,” Mitchell coach Larry Holden said. “I’m disappointed. I’m pleased with how hard we played. I thought we played well defensively but we put ourselves in a position to win and we couldn’t do it. Cutting it close isn’t what we’re about.”

Ridgewood 48, Mitchell 46
Ridgewood (48)-Killinger 3 3-5 12, Lawrence 5 10-10 20, Satram 0 0-1 0, Marina 0 0-2 0, Salazar 1 0-0 2, Zio 2 3-4 7, Poderis 4 0-0 8. Totals 1510-20 48
Mitchell (46)-Balkon 2 8-11 12, Stefanski 1 1-2 3, Boyd 3 1-3 8, Stojanovski 2 7-8 12, Hester 3 1-5 7, Makris 1 2-2 4. Totals 12 20-31 46.
Ridgewood 48(8, 11, 16, 13)
Mitchell 46(5, 10, 18, 13)
3-point goals- Killinger 3 (R); Boyd (M), Stojanovski (M). Total fouls- R 24, M 20. Fouled out-Satram (R); Stojanovski (M). Records-R 1-0; M 0-1.