By Kyle Roberts
A week of cold weather couldn’t keep Ruston’s boys’ and girls’ basketball squads down.
Both teams would force a running clock situation Friday night against West Ouachita at home with the girls (17-7, District 2-5A) winning 67-19 and the boys (12-7, 2-0 District 2-5A) following with a 73-25 rout of the Chiefs.
The Lady Bearcats came out strong with a 37-point first half to lead 37-10 at halftime and defensively held West Ouachita to nine second half points.
“You never know what you are going to be like coming off of a five day break,” Lady Bearcat head coach Meredith Graf said. “We were able to get one practice in and a shoot around this morning, and we were thankful for that. I thought we came out a little slow. We didn’t finish some easy shots or put backs early. We were kind of watching the game more. After a timeout talk, I felt like we got locked in and started to play like we needed to. Better defense, forced turnovers, fast break opportunities. Better focus and better energy.”
On the girls’ side, senior Zaccheya Jackson totaled 19 points, while junior Kiersynce McNeal added 15. Senior Jaliyah McWain finished with 10 points on the night.
The story was similar for the boys with freshman Ahmad Hudson getting 12 first quarter points en route to a 19-point performance. Ruston had 45 points in the first half alone.
“We practiced yesterday, but we wanted to get out and get up and down the floor and knock the cobwebs off,” Ruston head coach Ryan Bond said. “West Ouachita– they’ve struggled this year a little bit. I thought overall our energy was good. Wee got the ball inside there at the beginning and just kind of set the tone there.”
Senior Zhy Scott added 12 points.
And while junior Aidan Anding may not have scored a lot with only two points for the night, Bond credited him for his performance on the floor in other areas.
“Aiden was really good,” Bond said. “I don’t know how many points he ended up with, but he had several assists and I thought he was really good on the defensive end, as well.”
Ruston’s squads return to action Tuesday, Jan. 23, at home for Arcadia. The girls are scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m., while the boys will follow at 7 p.m.
