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Ritter hits game winner

WARREN — The final shot of the annual Frank Bubba Classic was a predicament that could be a first in the game of basketball.

The boys all-star game was tied at 124 and only 11 seconds left Tuesday. The strange part is that if the Mahoning team, which had the ball, missed its final shot, it would lose the game.

The game director, Bill Bogan, decided to put a twist on things seconds before it started, awarding teams one point for making a defensive stand, so a missed shot in the final seconds would result in a win for Trumbull County.

Anthony Ritter made sure they didn’t have to worry about that scenario.

The South Range senior sank a deep 3-pointer as time expired to cap off a 27-point second-half comeback and give Mahoning County a 127-124 victory at Warren Harding High School.

“That was probably the best 3-ball I ever shot,” Ritter said. “It felt so good when it came off (my hands), I knew it was going in.”

In an overly-dramatic scene directly afterward, the rest of his teammates chased him down on the court and piled on top of him as if he just won the state championship.

“It was crazy,” Ritter said. “I’ve never done something like that before. It felt great.”

Mahoning might have won the game, but Trumbull won the style points, which is usually the focus of all-star games. John JFK seniors Antonio McQueen and Justin Bofenkamp put on a show along with Warren Harding’s Lynn Bowden. McQueen threw down a number of thunderous dunks, including one off the backboard from Bowden that he reached back to grab before slamming down. He finished with a team-high 18 points.

Bofenkamp was unstoppable in the first half, making several steals to go along with 14 of his 16 points. He dazzled with a number of highlight-reel finishes around the basket and draining two three-pointers from well beyond the arc to help put Trumbull up, 74-47, at the half.

“You always want to come out and win,” Bofenkamp said. “We’re never going to come out not hard, but it’s just a lot of fun. You don’t want to get anybody hurt. I was just trying to have some fun — shoot some deep 3s, throw some lobs. That’s what it’s about, having some fun.”

To honor the late, defensive-minded Frank Bubba, a former Harding coach, Bogan increased the intensity by challenging the teams to play hard defensively (a rare sight in all-star games). Trumbull County thrived early on, leading 13-0 at one point and looking in sync as a team. Mahoning struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half, but Struthers’ Andrew Carbon kept them in striking distance — if 25 points is considered striking distance — with 10 of his game-high 20 points.

The final few minutes were interesting. Trumbull trailed by four but forced a turnover (resulting in one point), and Bowden was fouled shooting a three-pointer. The University of Kentucky football recruit jokingly acted as if he hurt his ankle, and teammate Lucas Nasonti took his place at the line, making all 3 to tie the game. That set up Ritter’s final shot, which came after a timeout. He said the original play didn’t work, so he improvised.

“We were just trying to get a layup before the buzzer sounded, and they triple-teamed him, so I came around and got like a pitch-back,” Ritter said. “I shot it, and it went in. It was crazy.”

An appropriate finish to a strange game.

Game notes

• In the girls game, Mahoning County pulled away in the final minutes of a 46-39 victory.

• Three-point contest winners were Bristol’s Tommy Donadio and Champion’s Abby White.

• Winners of the skills contest were LaBrae’s Tyriq Drake and Warren JFK’s Antonella LaMonica.

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