Lady ‘Cats drop key road game against ASH
By Bret H. McCormick
ALEXANDRIA – The Ruston Lady Bearcats really needed a victory Friday night as they looked to move up in the Division I power rankings and secure a playoff berth.
Gioia Tatum nearly shot the Lady ‘Cats to an improbable comeback win.
Tatum knocked down five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 15 points, but it wasn’t quite enough as Ruston (11-13, 1-3 District 2-5A) fell to Alexandria Senior High 46-40.
The sophomore guard’s fifth and final 3 came right at the 3-minute mark in the fourth quarter and cut the Lady Trojans’ lead to just two points, the closest Ruston had been since trailing 9-8 in the first quarter.
ASH (21-6, 3-1) answered with an and-1 by its own sophomore guard, Destiny Vories, to pull ahead 37-32 with 2:47 to play in the game, but Ruston responded less than 10 seconds later with an and-1 by senior Kiersynce McNeal.
The Lady ‘Cats went cold from the field after that, however, as ASH ran off five straight points to take a 42-35 lead and was able to put the game away with late free throws.
Ruston coach LaShanda Cooper said her team’s youth and inexperience played a role in Friday night’s outcome.
“We made some really bad decisions,” said Cooper, whose roster features five sophomores and freshmen.
The two teams traded runs in the first quarter as ASH took a 6-0 lead. Ruston didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 3:32 mark in the quarter when Tatum sparked an 8-0 with two 3-pointers sandwiched around a Bailee Harrison bucket.
The Lady Trojans then ran off 10 points in a row to close the quarter as Cassie Benoit and Thamerin Balthazar knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Jamaari Collins turned two steals into two transition baskets to give ASH a 16-6 lead after one quarter.
“We stressed in the beginning that we truly needed this win and we couldn’t get off to a slow start, and that’s what we did,” Cooper said.
Ruston’s offensive struggles, which were exacerbated by nine first-half turnovers, continued in the second quarter as they scored just three points to fall behind 25-11 at the half.
Cooper said a combination of a young team’s early nerves mixed with the atmosphere in the ASH gym along with what the Lady Cats had on the line caused them have some “really bad turnovers early.”
Ruston trailed by as many as 17 in the third quarter before closing on a 9-0 run – sparked again by two Tatum 3-pointers – to cut the lead to 28-20 heading into the final quarter.
Friday night’s loss kept the Lady Bearcats perilously on the postseason bubble as they sat 29th in the power ratings, one spot outside of the playoffs, with road games against Ouachita and West Monroe remaining on the schedule.
“We’ve got to win ‘em all,” Cooper said of the remaining games. “This would have put us in a good position.”
Fourth-quarter collapse costs Bearcats at Alexandria
By Bret H. McCormick
ALEXANDRIA – The Ruston Bearcats looked poised to wrap up the District 2-5A basketball championship Friday night.
They led Alexandria Senior High by seven points after one quarter, opened that lead up to 16 at halftime, and held a comfortable 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Then, it all unraveled.
The Bearcats (14-5, 3-1 District 2-5A) scored just four points in the fourth quarter as ASH (25-5, 4-0) rallied for a 49-44 victory to stay alive in the race for the 2-5A title.
“We just didn’t execute,” said Corey Deans, the Bearcats’ acting head coach.
A battle between two of the state’s top big men – Ruston’s super 6-foot-7 sophomore Ahmad Hudson against ASH’s 6-8 junior Tyshawn Duncan – gave the packed house plenty of big plays and reasons to get out of their seats.
Duncan shook off an uncharacteristically quiet first half to finish with 17 points, including two 3-pointers and three dunks, to go along with four massive blocks that sent the Trojan faithful into a frenzy.
He won the scoring battle against Hudson, who was held to just 11 points, mostly on offensive rebounds and dunks. However, Hudson dominated the glass, finishing with 17 rebounds, and added two blocks and two steals.
Ruston took control early behind the trio of Hudson, fellow sophomore Keshun Malcoln and senior guard Aidan Anding, who combined to score 14 first-quarter points.
Hudson’s dunk with 14 seconds left in the quarter followed by Anding’s buzzer-beater broke open a three-point game. A 3-pointer by sophomore Kohl Gray just over a minute into the second quarter gave the Bearcats a 19-9 lead.
Ruston closed the half with an 11-1 run over the final four minutes to send a dejected Trojan squad to the locker room trailing 30-14.
Duncan, who scored just three points in the first half, and senior guard Jordyn Johnson kept the Trojans within striking distance in the third quarter, combining to score 14 points as ASH nearly cut its deficit to single digits, trailing 40-30 heading into the fourth.
That’s when Johnson, who scored a game-high 18 points, took control of the game, using his speed to slice his way to the rim along with his long-range accuracy to knock down 3-pointers.
His first 3 of the quarter cut the Ruston lead to 42-35 with just over five minutes to play, before Malcolm answered with a reverse layup about a minute later to push the Bearcats’ lead back to nine.
However, Ruston’s offense went scoreless for the final 4:08 of the contest as the Trojans finished the game on a 14-0 run.
Deans said the gameplan was to get the ball inside and finish at the rim. Instead, the Bearcats continued to misfire from the perimeter.
“We just kept shooting the ball,” he said. “… We were in control, but the same shots we were hitting early just didn’t go in.”
Duncan and Johnson each hit a 3-pointer to trim the Ruston lead to three with just under three minutes to play, and Johnson’s crafty finish at the rim over the outstretched arm of Hudson cut the lead to just one with 2:21 to play.
Duncan gave ASH its first lead of the game with 52 seconds remaining when he grabbed an offensive rebound near the free-throw line and threw down a ferocious slam to put the Trojans ahead 45-44.
Ruston still had chances, however, the best of which came when Malcolm missed two free throws with 39 seconds to play that would have given the Bearcats a one-point lead.
Deans lamented that the Bearcats allowed ASH to get easy transition baskets, which led to the Trojans’ comeback.
“As long as we make it a halfcourt game, we win,” he said.
Malcolm finished with 12 points for the Bearcats, who still have a shot at claiming a piece of the District 2-5A title. Ruston closes district play with a road game at West Monroe next Friday, and a win there coupled with an ASH loss at Ouachita would mean a three-way tie for the district title. The Trojans can clinch the title outright with a win against Ouachita.
