By Kyle Roberts
It was a sweep for both varsity teams Tuesday night at home against Bossier in both the boys and the girls games; first, the girls took care of the Lady Bearkats by a final score of 63-12, while the boys won theirs in a closer contest 49-32.
“I’m really happy for the guys,” Ruston head coach Ryan Bond said. “I was a little worried because we didn’t play over the break, and we didn’t practice very much because I knew the guys needed their legs underneath them because we had previously played four games in five days. December is going to be tough with a lot of difficult opponents. For the way the guys have come back after the off days with a mental focus against a good Bossier team.”
The boys took an early 20-9 lead after the first quarter, but Bossier quickly changed its defensive style to slow Ruston’s scoring down. At halftime, Ruston was still up 22-14. In the third quarter, Ruston started to pull away thanks in part to a half-court buzzer beater by sophomore Aidan Anding to put the Bearcats up 12 points 38-26. Ruston held on for a final score of 49-32.
“The guys just fought tonight,” Bond said. “They played heavy minutes, and they’re going to play heavy minutes until football is over, which will hopefully be December 10. They followed the game plan. I’m proud of the guys.”
On the girls’ side, the Lady Bearcats amassed an early lead and was able to get some significant playing time for some of the younger players on the squad.
“Tonight was good for a lot of our younger players to continue to gain some valuable experience and confidence,” Ruston head coach Meredith Graf said. “We’re looking forward to a tough week of competition at the showdown at the tournament in Lake Charles.”
Senior Braylan McNeal led the Bearcats with 19 points, while Anding finished with 14 points, with four made three-pointers. Sophomore Kiersynce McNeal finished with 11 points for the Lady Bearcats.
