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St. Vincent-St. Mary senior point guard Ricky Johnson, Jr., is SportsInk.com Athlete of the Week for March 6-12.

St. Vincent-St. Mary's four-year starting point guard Ricky Johnson, Jr., is SportsInk.com Athlete of the Week for March 6-12.

Johnson had 12 points in a Division II regional championship win over Cleveland John Hay and hit three key 3-pointers in the district title win over Archbishop Hoban. Johnson finished with 20 points against the Knights.

Johnson was the irish team stopper when he limited Walsh Jesuit junior star Evan Payne in the second half of St. V-M's xx-xx regional semifinal win over the Warriors.

“Ricky took Payne out of the game, plain and simple," St. V-M coach Dru Joyce said. "He was outstanding for us.”

This season Johnson has averaged 12.8 ppg, and has a team-leading 103 assists against just 35 turnovers on the season. 

“I‘ve always wanted to play for this team," Johnson said. "I was telling coach Dru in seventh grade that I was going to play for him.

“I’ve really learned how to be a point guard. Coach told me to look for my teammates more and to get assists as well as points."

Johnson has become a true point guard, but it was not always that way.

“He now understands his role and how he controls the team,” Joyce said. “He is just a pleasure to be around, he always has a smile,” Joyce said.

Johnson would like to get a second state championship this weekend at Ohio State's Value City Arena when the Irish meet Columbus Bishop Hartley in a state semifinal on Thursday morning.

Ricky has two younger brothers and his parents Shana and Ricky have to proud of their talented son.

Ricky Johnson, Jr.

St. Vincent-St. Mary High School

Senior point guard

Basketball

TV:  “The Boondocks”

Movie:  “Love and Basketball”

Pizza:  Pepperoni and sausage

Home cooking:  Cheeseburgers

IPod:  Drake

Class:  Math