By Kyle Roberts
BOSSIER, La. — Back-to-back 30-plus point performances by sophomore Bearcat Ahmad Hudson helped lead Ruston (6-3) to winning the Doc Edwards Tournament Championship, with Hudson and others earning post-tournament accolades.
Following a 54-36 Thursday win over Minden, the Bearcats would win 53-20 over Benton and then 63-55 over Bossier, both on Friday, setting Ruston up for a championship match with Huntington, where the Bearcats took the tournament prize home by a final score of 75-60.
For their overall efforts, Hudson was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, while both senior Aidan Anding and sophomore Keshun Malcolm were named to the all-tournament team.
“I’m very pleased with how we played,” Ruston High assistant coach Corey Deans said. “Of course we got the wins, but what I was really played with was that instead of a shootaround, we had more of practice time because most of our guys are still new to the system. The football players (seniors Anding, Joran Parker, Fabian Stringfellow, and Zheric Hill along with Hudson) are getting comfortable understanding the offense. Our defense has always been rock solid, and the guys are just having fun. You could see the difference in their confidence and speed of play.
“I’m probably going to be biased, but I think Ahmad, Aidan and Keshun were the best three players in the tournament. If any of them were on a different team, they could all be an MVP. Ahmad dominated in every aspect of the game. Defensive-wise, they put him in a lot of screen and rolls, and he switched out and guarded guards. He defended the rim, and they couldn’t get any points inside the paint.
“Aidan did what he wanted to do. He broke the team’s press by himself and guarded each team’s best player. And with all the attention going to Aidan and Ahmad, Keshun was in a lot of one-on-one situations. I don’t think he can be guarded like that, and he showed that he is who he is.”
On Friday’s first game, Ruston’s defense held Benton to just 10 points per half, with sophomore guard Jasen Morgan leading the way in scoring with 14 points — nine of which he scored in the fourth quarter alone. Hudson added 10 while Anding chipped in eight.
In the Bossier match-up that evening, Ruston stormed out to a 35-26 lead at the half before the Bearkats began creeping back in. Ruston held Bossier off, getting the 63-55 win. Hudson would finish the night with 31 points and 16 rebounds, while Malcolm added 10.
For the final game of the tournament on Saturday, Ruston dominated Huntington by getting out to a 29-15 lead. The game turned into an offensive shootout in the fourth quarter with Ruston scoring 28 points to Huntington’s 27. Hudson would add 31 points again and finished with 17 rebounds.
“Huntington is one of the top programs in the state,” Deans said. “They have a lot of athletic guys – they were probably taller than us in every position except for center. And we dominated them in every aspect of the game. We were fast to the ball, and we looked fresher. We got every shot we wanted. We just looked like a complete team on the last game.”
Dean credited Ruston’s freshness to the Saturday late start, giving his team time to rest during the day.
Ruston returns to action Friday, Jan. 3, at home against Richwood. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
