By Kyle Roberts
Ruston split another road trip between the boys and girls Thursday night with the Lady Bearcats (3-0) winning 60-54 before the boys (0-2) fell 46-45 to the Airline Vikings.
Ruston head coach Meredith Graf spoke first about the tight win for her Lady Bearcats.
“Tonight was not our best basketball,” Graf said. “We had a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers. It was one of those nights where everything feels like a grind, and we never really got in a rhythm which is a credit to Airline but we made shots when we needed to and got some critical stops. All in all, a win is a win especially when you have played three games in four days. We have to continue to create our own energy and find ways to get going as we move forward.”
The Lady Bearcats finished with a 10-to-20 assist to turnover ratio on the night, while forcing 29 on the Vikings. Ruston would score 17 points off of turnovers.
Senior Jaliyah McWain finished with 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing five assists. Senior Zaccheya Jackson finished the night with 16 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
The boys followed with a tough one-point loss to the Vikings despite a 25-point performance by senior Lonnie Dimmer.
“The guys are still learning on the fly,” Ruston head coach Ryan Bond said. “They are playing hard and gaining valuable experience. We still have to clean up some fundamental mistakes that have hurt us the first two games.”
