By Kyle Roberts
Ruston High’s varsity basketball squads split a pair of road games Tuesday night with the Lady Bearcats defeating Minden 48-28 with the boys falling afterward 65-52.
“I am very proud of this win,” Lady Bearcat head coach Meredith Graf said. “It was a terrific team win. Minden is a very talented and tall team. They have four girls who are either pushing six-feet or are taller so it wasn’t an easy or good match up for us.
“We executed really well through their length, and I was proud of our boxing out. Offensively, we did a great job of sharing the ball and had a great mixture of knocking down some inside and outside shots to keep everyone honest. We still have a lot we need to get better at but it was a great experience for us to gain early in the season. ”
Senior Zaccheya Jackson led the Lady Bearcats with 12 points, while senior Jaliyah McWain finished with 10 points.
On the Bearcats’ side, Ruston trailed by only two points entering the fourth quarter before Minden pulled away for the 65-52 victory.
“We had trouble keeping them in front,” Bearcat head coach Ryan Bond said. “We overreacted defensively too many times, and we had careless turnovers led to several easy baskets for them. Overall, it was a good learning experience.”
Senior Lonnie Dimmer led the way with 29 points, while freshman KeShun Malcolm finished with 13.
Both teams return tonight on the road at Airline with the girls tipping at 6 p.m. and the boys following at 7:30 p.m.
