By Kyle Roberts
A dunk by junior Aidan Anding with four minutes to play punctuated the entire night for No. 8 Ruston High (20-9) as the Bearcats used an offensive onslaught in the fourth quarter to beat the No. 9 H. L. Bourgeios Braves 71-45 Tuesday night in Memorial Gym on the campus of Louisiana Tech University.
Ruston outscored the Braves 24-11 in the final stanza.
Ruston advances to the quarterfinals, where it will face off with No. 1 Zachary on Friday.
“I was really pleased with our effort,” Ruston High head coach Ryan Bond said. “Our team really played together. It was a good night.”
The Bearcats led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. However, the Braves ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to bring the game back to within 47-34 before Ruston’s offense secured the win.
Anding scored Ruston’s first two baskets early, both being three-pointers. The Bearcats found a rhythm in the first quarter and led 13-5 before H.L. Bourgeios cut the lead to 13-10 after a quick run to end the quarter.
The Bearcats had an early scare when freshman Ahmad Hudson hit the floor hard after getting tied up with a jump ball, but he would only end up missing just over a minute of game-time. Following Hudson’s return, he scored seven points in the second quarter helping propel Ruston to a 31-21 lead at the half.
Anding led all scorers with 23 points with a total of three three-pointers.
“Aidan was tremendous,” Bond said. “He just does it all. He’s a tremendous football player, and he’s got several offers. But he’s a Division I talent basketball-wise, as well. He’s a tremendous leader of this team. He checks all the boxes as far as somebody you want in your program; football, basketball, track or whatever. And he was outstanding tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Hudson would finish with a double-double at 14 points and 15 rebounds, while junior Joran Parker added 18 points for the Bearcats with a trio of three-pointers.
Ruston has not lost since early February and has now won six in a row.
“We’re finally trusting each other and the guys understood the importance of the last two weeks of the regular season,” Bond said. “The bulk of our team went through the fire with football and the stakes they had to battle through. So they’re used to that. We talk about winning your individual battles and moving forward.”
Zachary bested No. 17 East St. John 64-54 and will host Ruston Friday night as the Broncos are the higher seed.
