THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996                 TAG: 9606230210
SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   42 lines

RITTER CAN'T JAM ON JOE, BUT HIS TEAM GETS 84-80 PRO-AM VICTORY

A look of amazement crossed Clayton Ritter's face Saturday evening at Lake Taylor High.

He got the ball from a teammate, went up and tried to force down a tomahawk slam dunk - on Joe Smith, no less.

However, the summer league jam of the year was not meant to be. The ball bounced out of the rim and Ritter was charged with his fifth foul.

``He was just trying to go hard and excite the crowd and make a name for himself,'' Smith said of the third-quarter jam attempt.

Instead, Ritter would have to wait until the end of the game for gratification. Despite fouling out early in the fourth quarter, Ritter's 22 points and 10 rebounds were enough for A&G to defeat Central Fidelity 84-80 in Hampton Roads Pro-Am men's summer league basketball action.

``I didn't think it was a foul but it was not my call to judge,'' said Ritter, a former Kempsville High and James Madison standout.

Back home in Hampton Roads, Ritter might expect that Smith would get the benefit of the calls. But over in Austria where he plays professional ball, Ritter is ``the man.''

``I averaged 45 points a game and that's not a padded stat(istic) either,'' said Ritter, who also averaged 15 rebounds last season. ``Americans have to do most of the work.''

Ritter spent his first season abroad in Belgium where he said the competition was better but the pay was lower.

``It's a beautiful country and the people are nice,'' he said of Austria. ``The biggest difference is the language. They speak German.''

At Lake Taylor, where English is the main language, it took him no time to respond to the very profound expression of ``charge'' on Saturday.

Smith, who spent the whole evening trying to distract the opposition, was not concerned about the call one way or the other. He saw a challenge that he was not backing down from.

Later in the quarter during a stoppage of play, Smith stood at halfcourt and taunted the A&G bench.

``Put him back in the game,'' said the former Maury High star who finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. ``He tried to dunk on me.'' by CNB