how to make object go behind another object

whats the standard way to make it so 1 object is in front of another object but behind another

for instance, lets say i have a mask of a basketball and i want the basketball to be visible so the basketball is in front of the rest of the background, but then someoene runs in front of the basketball, so now how do i make it so the basketball is in front of the everything else but covered/behind the person running in front of it which blocks the vision

do i create a mask of that person running in front of the ball and just have layering priority on this person over the ball or is there a better and more common way of doing this