Rittinger Wins Gamer of the Week Honors
Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week’s Gamer of the Week to junior, Noah Rittinger of Poca High School’s basketball team.
Poca has been fantastic this season, sitting 15-2 and currently a top 5 AA team in the state. Junior transfer point guard, Noah Rittinger has been one of the main key’s to Poca’s success. While it may have taken him a little bit to become comfortable with his new team and role in the offense, there is no mistaking that he has found his way. In the past week or two, Poca has reeled off wins against a tough Charleston Catholic team (49-42), Herbert Hoover (61-34), and Winfield (63-43). During the stretch of games over the past few weeks, Rittinger has played the point guard position beautifully, distributing the ball and scoring in bunches when needed. In those 3 games, he put up 16, 13, and 17 points respectively, but his effect on the game goes much deeper than the box score.
Long-time coach, Allen Osborne, had this to say about Noah, “He’s been a great addition to our team. He’s an excellent point guard. He leads our team in assists and compliments that with good defense. Over the last few weeks, he has started to become more aggressive on offense and is scoring the ball well for us. It couldn’t be coming at a better time.” Noah commented on the team and his own success by stating, “We’ve just been buying in to what coach has been preaching to us all year. We’ve played hard, played together, and played smart, so I think when you do that, good things happen. Personally, I think it’s been the trust between myself and my teammates. They put faith in me to make the right plays and do whatever the team needs.”
Noah has been a bit of a basketball nomad during his high school career, trying to find a team that would be a good fit for him. When asked how it feels to be finally settled into a home and school at Poca, he replied, “It’s meant a lot to me. Everyone has been super welcoming, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team, better teachers, better community. I’m just very happy and blessed.” Coach Osborne added how much of a pleasure it has been to coach Noah. “It’s been a joy to coach him. He has a great attitude and is very coachable. Off the court, he’s a good student and teammate. We are just blessed to have him be a part of our program.” Rittinger added that the team has goals of getting to post season play and try to take one game at a time and get back into the state tournament and ride the wave as far as it can take them.
Noah has been playing basketball since the age of 6 and notes that it’s almost an indescribable feeling for why he loves it so much. He stated that the court is where he feels most at home and most like himself. He draws inspiration from his Dad, who he says has worked tirelessly his whole life without complaint to afford him the opportunities he gets to play basketball. While Noah is still trying to figure out what he’d like to do following high school, his future is bright as he has carried a 3.75 GPA throughout his time in high school.
Please look for other local high school athletes to be named in next week’s male Gamer of the Week Sponsored by Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald.