TRINITY — Ridgewood senior Tristan Ficarro sank a career-best seven 3-pointers as the Rams defeated Central 67-52 Tuesday in the Mitchell Thanksgiving Invite.
Host Mitchell, and earlier Berkeley Prep and Kathleen, won to finish the eight-team event with 2-0 marks. Mitchell and Berkeley had a running clock early in the third quarter of their games.
But the third game was fun throughout, especially for Ficarro and the Rams. He made four 3s in the first quarter and was 5-for-5 before missing a desperation heave at the halftime buzzer. Ficarro finished with 25 points.
“I was making all my shots in warmups and it just carried over into the game,” he said.
Central fell behind 16-3 through one quarter yet got back in it.
The Bears suffered two critical misses on breakaway layups. They’d cut the margin to 37-33 on a 3-pointer by Joey Stokes, who had six 3s and finished with 21 points. Then the trapping Bears forced one of seven Ridgewood turnovers in the third quarter — only to miss the layup and have Ficarro drill a 3 on the other end.
Adam Ibrahim had 19 points and six assists for Ridgewood while Brandon Lorentsen finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Daniel Robinson scored 14 for the Bears.
The event at Mitchell marked the start of the season for Pasco County teams. Berkeley Prep had its way with Pasco opponents, beating Ridgewood 79-42 Monday then taking down Sunlake 77-27.
Justin Gray led the Bucs with 16 points while fellow 6-4 forward Jacob Mathis, added 15. Sunlake trailed 48-17 at half.
In the nightcap Mitchell put away undermanned Manatee quickly, leading 27-4 in the first quarter. When Nic Ranocchia’s 3-pointer made it 49-12 late in the half, nine Mustangs had scored.
Ranocchia ended with 15 points to tie Bernie Conley for game high, and Jordan Dong was right behind with 12. Conley and Dong played only 11 minutes.
All five of Manatee’s starters are still with the football team, which may be the case for another month.
“We’re a jump-shooting team, that’s what we do,” Mitchell coach Jared St. Charles said. “And the guys had it going tonight.”
Mitchell was 6-of-12 from distance in the first quarter but took it easy from there, attempting just six the rest of the way.