Ben Ritterband helped the Monticello’s boys basketball team pick up a huge win at home against Orange County with an explosive 37-point performance.
The Mustangs needed overtime to close the deal, but beat the Hornets 66-63 to pick up Monticello’s fourth district win on the year. It also showed some serious improvement by the Mustangs over the two squads’ first meeting in December where the Hornets rolled to a 15-point win over the Mustangs.
This time Orange jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter but Monticello refused to go quietly, whittling the lead down to six by halftime and then three by the end of the third quarter. Ritterband knocked down 14 of his 16 free throw attempts on the night and buried three 3-pointers. Ben Giese chipped in 12 points while Jacob Messinger and Thomas White had six points each, with White scoring a pair of critical buckets in overtime.
Orange County got a balanced effort offensively led by Brody Foran who had 13 points as well as 12 each from Chase Rollins and Darius Holmes. Braylon Stanely scored 11.
The Mustangs will look to build on the win over the Hornets when they square off with Covenant Wednesday afternoon while will try and get back on track against Goochland Thursday.
