By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — It was a back-and-forth struggle between the Ruston High Lady Bearcats (3-6) and the undefeated Airline Lady Vikings (7-1) Tuesday night in the Ruston High Main Gym.
With a little over two minutes to play, Airline had a four-point lead 49-45 before Ruston scored the final five points in dramatic fashion in the final 30 seconds to pull ahead for the 50-49 home victory and giving the Lady Vikings their first loss of the season.
And for Ruston High Head Coach Lashanda Cooper, Tuesday’s win was the culmination of hard work in practice, day in and day out.
“I say it all the time: it starts in practice,” Cooper said. “We just want to keep developing their competitive mindset and get them to believe in themselves and each other. I was proud of them being able to fight and compete — the situation we are in right now, we have nothing to lose. And Airline, I feel, had everything to lose. They were undefeated, and we knew coming in they were going to be a well-coached team. Right now, we’re just kind of playing without a conscience right now. It doesn’t bother us that they ranked No. 5 — we just come out and play hard no matter who we are playing against.”
Ruston High fell behind early 12-2 with 3:37 to go in the first quarter before the Lady Bearcats finished the quarter on an 8-1 run to trail 13-10. Senior Kiersynce McNeal scored four of her 19 points in the first quarter.
“With (McNeal) coming back, the chemistry is starting to pick back up,” Cooper said. “The other girls look and appreciate the big shots she takes and those big moments that she’s not afraid of, based off of her experience from last year.”
Following a back-and-forth battle in the second quarter, Ruston took its first lead of the night with 1:03 to go before the end of the half after a basket by junior Journi Douglas for a 22-21 lead.
Airline would get the lead heading into the fourth quarter and answered anytime the Lady Bearcats had a chance to retake the lead before the final seconds. Down four, McNeal hit a three-pointer with 0:36 to play, and on the ensuing possession for the Lady Vikings, Ruston would get a critical steal and fast break basket from senior Samiya Lewis with 0:16 to play.
Ruston’s defense came through in the end and held the 50-49 lead for the victory, snapping a four-game losing streak.
“They didn’t get ratted — we kept yelling at them to stay calm,” Cooper said. “For them to be able to have enough confidence, set the ball up and not get rattled — I feel like we rose above the challenge.”
The Lady Bearcats return to action against Richwood on Friday, Dec. 20.
Lady Bearcat Scoring FG(3FG)-FT=TP
Kiersynce McNeal #20, Sr. 8(1)- 2-2 FT = 19
Journi Douglas #21, Jr. 2 = 4
Angelica Green, #4, Soph. 4(2) – 1-2 FT = 11
Bailee Harrison, #23, Soph 2 = 4
Jasmine Summerford #22, Sr. 2-4 FT = 2
Samiya Lewis #3, Sr. 1 – 1-2 FT = 3
Gioia Tatum #5, Soph 1 = 2
Adrianna Robinson #24, Fr. 2 – 0-1 FT = 4
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