by Malcolm Butler
Senior Night was not one to remember for Ruston.
The Lady Bearcats (9-12, 1-2) struggled all night to knock down shots as the home team fell 44-30 to District 2-5A foe Ouachita (18-6, 3-0) at RHS Gym.
“We couldn’t get it together mentally,” said Ruston High coach LaShanda Cooper. “On offense or defense. We missed a lot of defensive assignments. We didn’t get many plays run like we should have.
“We knew they were going to play full court man-to-man and we have seen this before with some of the teams we have played. We felt we would be prepared for this type of team, but we just could not execute.”
Angelica Green and Bailee Harrison each netted four points in the opening quarter for Ruston as the two teams found themselves tied at 9-9 after the opening quarter of play. Kiersynce McNeal scored five points in the second quarter, including a conventional three-point play with 6:42 to play to give Ruston a 14-12 lead.
However, Ouachita used a 7-0 run and ended the half on a 11-4 run to take a 23-18 lead into the halftime locker room.
Ruston’s guards found seams in the Lions defense for much of the night, but the Lady Bearcats weren’t able to get shots to fall consistently … even at point blank range.
“Offensively, we got a lot of good looks,” said Cooper. “The ball just wouldn’t fall. And when it’s not your night, then it’s not your night. It hurts a little bit more when it’s on senior night or when it’s one of the bigger games. I felt like this was a big district game for us, but we just didn’t execute.”
The Lions were able to extend their lead in the third quarter, outscoring Ruston 12-6 to push the advantage to 35-14.
The Lady Bearcats forced initial misses by the Lions throughout the night, but Ouachita got second chance opportunities thanks to their offensive rebounding. It was one of the big differences in the game, according to the Ruston first year head coach.
“We felt like they couldn’t handle a zone defense,” said Cooper. “We wanted to slow them down instead of speed them up. We played zone to give them more of a thinking type game to make them make a decision.
“(Rebounding) has been killing us all year. Nothing went right. Missed box outs. Them getting second chance opportunities, over and over and over again. It hurts when it’s multiple people, and it’s not just one mixed box out. When you aren’t boxing out as a team, it can cost you at the end. That’s exactly what happened to us.”
McNeal cut the deficit to 35-26 on a baseline drive on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bearcats simply couldn’t mount enough offense to ever threaten the Lions.
In addition to McNeal’s 13 points and 10 rebounds, Harrison added 10 points for the Lady Bearcats.
Malaysha Scott led Ouachita with 12 points.
