ORDER ON THE COURT

Whether it’s on the court or off it, John Ricks is feeling more at ease these days.

Ricks, a 6-foot-3 senior guard on the Cerritos Gahr boys’ basketball team, made the game-winning basket in the closing seconds of a 59-57 victory Friday over Paramount, scoring a season-high 27 points for the Gladiators.

The victory moved Gahr (10-11) within one win of the number necessary to be eligible for a wild-card berth in the Southern Section playoffs. For Ricks, it also provided one of the more memorable moments of his difficult life.

“It felt good,” Ricks said of his winning shot, a pull-up five-foot jumper over two defenders. “I’d never had a chance to win a high school game like that, watching the clock wind down and then driving for the winning basket.”

It was a scenario that nobody could have predicted at the beginning of the school year.

Ricks, 18, was expected to be the top player at Lakewood Artesia, the defending Division III-A section champion.

But he grudgingly left the school shortly before the start of the season after petitioning the Southern Section for a hardship transfer.

He said he left because he feared for his safety. Racial tensions in the neighborhood had filtered onto the campus, and Ricks reported an after-school assault and vandalism to his car.

Ricks was not only disappointed to leave his team, but also Artesia Coach Scott Pera, with whom he had established a father-son type of relationship.

“I wish I could have stayed at Artesia,” said Ricks, who has lived with his grandparents across the street from the Gahr campus for 16 years.

Ricks enrolled at Gahr on Nov. 15, the first day of basketball practice. He knew the experience and talent level surrounding him wouldn’t be the same -- he attended Gahr for half his freshman year before transferring to Artesia -- but still found it a challenge to mix with his new teammates.

They also had to adjust to Ricks, whose ability to handle, pass and shoot with equal coolness caught some off guard, Gahr Coach Bryan Voshell said.

“He plays a different style than what the kids are used to,” said Voshell, in his fourth season. “He can do things, because he’s a third-year varsity player, that they weren’t used to seeing.”

But slowly, Ricks and the Gladiators are beginning to click.

Although Gahr might not be ready to challenge Compton Dominguez, ranked No. 4 in the Southland by The Times, tonight in a San Gabriel Valley League game, Ricks believes the Gladiators (2-2 in league play) are on a pace to make themselves eligible for the postseason, even if it means taking the wild-card route.

“We only need one more win,” he said

Over at Artesia, the Pioneers (13-7, 4-2) are in third place in the Suburban League.

That sounds troubling for a team that went 30-3 last season, winning 21 consecutive games at one stretch, but attrition has taken its toll.

In addition to losing Ricks, who was the first player off the bench last season, Artesia graduated its entire starting lineup.

The Pioneers lost five of their first seven games but have regrouped behind a freshman and two sophomore starters, as well as three key sophomore reserves. Pera believes Ricks would be worth at least three more victories had he remained.

“He was going to be our main man,” Pera said. “We miss him, no question.”

Still, he believes Ricks and the Southern Section made the correct decision.

“It was the right move, there’s no two ways about it,” Pera said. “[The section] would have caught a lot of flak if they had ruled him ineligible.”

Ricks, who was born into foster care, said his grandparents took custody of him and his two sisters when he was 2. Ricks’ mother has been in and out of jail for most of his life, and his father spent 12 years in prison before he was released in October 2002.

Although his parents have not reconciled, both have remained in touch with their children. Wayne Ricks, who played basketball for Gahr, has attended most of John’s games since his release, something both have cherished.

“I’m just learning to be a father again,” said Wayne, who is living with an aunt in Compton. “Since I’ve been home, we’ve been very close.”

So, too, are Pera and his former player.

Ricks accepted Pera’s invitation to ride along on the team bus with the Pioneers to a game last week against South Gate at Long Beach City College. Pera calls Ricks regularly, such as to congratulate him on his winning shot against Paramount.

Ricks said Pera is one of the most trusted figures in his life.

“He’s the only man I’ve ever been able to cry with,” Ricks said.