By Kyle Roberts
A return for legendary Ruston Bearcat Scotty Thurman was spoiled Tuesday night in large part due to a stellar third quarter performance by Ruston to win over his Parkview High Patriots from Arkansas.
The Bearcats would outscore the Patriots 26-6 in the third quarter after only leading by two at halftime.
“This was a great bounce back after Friday night,” Ruston High head coach Ryan Bond said. “I’m proud of our attention to detail. Joran Parker did a great job of defending their best player in the second half. Aidan Anding and Trey Dimmer took care of the ball tonight. Ahmad Hudson stayed out of foul trouble. We were able to keep him on the floor for longer stretches.”
For Thurman, it was not the homecoming he had envisioned based on the play of his team.
“It’s always good to come back home,” Thurman said. “You know, obviously I would like to have had a better showing in this, but it’s always good to come back and see familiar faces, friends and family. I’ve got my niece and my great-niece and nephew here. It was pretty big time to come back and coach in front of friends and family. Like I said, I wish we could have played a little bit better.”
Ruston lead 14-8 after the first quarter, but a quick 10-0 run by Parkview to start the second quarter gave the Patriots an 18-14 lead with nearly 5 minutes to go in the first half. The two teams would practically trade baskets for the rest of the quarter, and Ruston would go on to lead 25-23 at the half.
Anding led all scorers with 20 points on the night after draining six three-pointers on the night.
“He looked like Scotty Thurman shooting the ball tonight,” Bond said of his junior guard’s performance. “I could tell today during practice he was locked in and ready to play.”
Both Hudson and Dimmer ended with 12 points apiece.
Parkview’s Dallas Thomas is a commit for Clemson’s men’s basketball team and scored 19 points.
Ruston returns to action Friday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gym.
