At least not the 15 players that make up the Cardinal Ritter boys basketball team.

Chaminade sure didn’t Monday night.

The Lions used their extensive depth and an electric third quarter by junior guard Clayton Jackson to overwhelm the Red Devils 79-65 at Cardinal Ritter.

The No. 2 small school in the STLhighschoolsports.com rankings, Ritter (15-3) is riding a 14-game winning streak and picked up its first victory over No. 3 large school Chaminade (14-4) this century.

The Red Devils had won the previous five meetings, including a nip-and-tuck 64-63 on December 22, 2021.

For the Lions to finally break through against another tradition rich program in the area was a nice way to start the week.

“It’s one game in January but when you’ve got programs like that with their legacies, they matter,” Ritter coach Ryan Johnson said. “In basketball circles and all that stuff, it matters. You have to play those games to let you know where you are. Those are measuring tools for us.”

It would be hard to top the way the Lions played Monday night. Jackson led the way with 22 points, five rebounds and two assists. He was absolutely sensational in the third quarter when he scored 17 points as Ritter turned a 37-27 halftime lead into a 59-39 edge headed into the fourth.

“The kid puts in so much work, he’s so talented and just a junior,” Johnson said. “He’s just scratching the surface and so are all of those guys. I’m glad all the work they’re putting in is paying off.”

The Lions built their lead in the first half without Jackson draining every open look he had. Collectively Ritter overwhelmed Chaminade offensively with its deft passing. The Lions put on a bounce pass clinic as the ball found the cutting man for easy looks at the rim. They led 16-10 at the end of the first and extended it 37-27 at halftime.

“It’s all about trust, trusting our teammates, passing it to them moving the ball and finishing,” junior guard Nashawn Davis said.

Davis was the epitome of what makes the Lions so hard to stop. He scored nine points, hauled in eight rebounds, handed out four assists, made a steal and a block. Junior guard Ryan Atkins scored 10 points and had four rebounds. Junior guard Derrick Rivers scored nine points. Junior forward Mehki Barringer scored nine points and had three rebounds. Junior forward James Porter had seven points and two rebounds. Senior guard Demontrel Jones Jr. has four points, two rebounds but five assists. Junior forward Quentin Parker blocked two shots.

With so many contributions from so many players Ritter is an absolute nightmare to scout and prepare for as waves of players shuffle on and off the court.

“Guys have to be locked in and focused when they play the amount of guys they do,” said Chaminade assistant coach Shawn Keizer who was filling in for Frank Bennett who was out sick. “They have guys that get downhill really well. They have guys that can shoot the ball really well.”

Lost in Ritter’s depth and execution was a herculean effort by Chaminade senior point guard BJ Ward. The Southeast Missouri State recruit scored a game-high 28 points, grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and made two steals.

Senior guard Nilavan Daniels scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and had four assists before fouling out with 2 minutes and 10 seconds to play in the game. Sophomore guard Colin Keller scored 17 points as he knocked down five 3-pointers.

Chaminade’s long-range shooting was what kept it in the game much of the first half. The Lions scored the first eight points of the game and threatened to run away with it only to watch the Red Devils knock down a 3-pointer. Chaminade made 14 3-pointers as Ward, Daniels, Keller and sophomore guard Jacob Robinson all hit at least two.

If there was one nit for Johnson to pick, it was that.

“That’s something we should be able to control,” Johnson said. “We went in with a game plan that they can’t get uncontested shots. I felt like we gave them too many uncontested shots. Those things allowed them to stay in the game. We want to be better than that with the standard we have set.”

Eventually the long-range shots stopped falling and combined with Jackson’s outrageous third quarter Chaminade couldn’t keep up. The Red Devils were fresh off a pair of nice wins at the Quincy Shootout on Friday and Saturday. Monday wasn’t much fun but there are lessons to be learned when you play an opponent of Ritter’s caliber.

“The thing about tonight’s game it allows us to see things we can improve upon and get ready for that push in February and March,” Keizer said.

Ritter is rolling right along as January nears its end and nobody wants to see this 15 anytime soon.

“When you put in that much work, the stage is your opportunity to show. That’s kind of what happened,” Johnson said. “They showed the things they do. That’s stuff we see in practice and they showed it.”