By Kyle Roberts
WALKER, La. — Ruston High dug as deep as possible on the road Friday night, hoping for a third consecutive trip to the semifinals.
Unfortunately, it would not prove enough for the scoreboard as No. 3 Denham Springs (28-3) downed the No. 6 Bearcats (18-6) 53-50, ending Ruston’s season in a physical ballgame on the campus of Walker High School.
Down 53-50 with under ten seconds remaining, Ruston High had a few opportunities, including a three-point attempt by sophomore Keshun Malcolm that did everything in the rim except go through the basket. The shot was set up by a great defensive stop on an inbound pass by the Yellow Jackets that ended up in a jump ball situation to give the Bearcats the ball back. Ruston would not score again and the season would end in the quarterfinal loss.
“I think our team did everything they were supposed to do tonight,” Ruston High acting-head coach Corey Deans said. “I didn’t do a good job of settling us down early. Then the foul-trouble bug got us. (Denham Springs) ran their sets and were more patient than I have ever seen them. So that’s a shout-out to them. They executed their offense better, and I didn’t have an answer for it tonight.”
The Yellow Jackets opened up with a quick basket to take an early 2-0 lead at the 7:20 mark of the first, and the Bearcats responded with a three-pointer by sophomore Keshun Malcolm put Ruston up 3-2 with 6:59 to go in the quarter.
After a Ruston time out, sophomore Ahmad Hudson would account for the Bearcats’ next six straight points including an alley-oop slam from senior Joran Parker to put the ‘Cats up 9-4.
Denham Springs would hit a three with 3:40 to play in the first, cutting the lead to 9-7. Parker answered with a basket on the next possession to put Ruston back up 11-7. The Jackets answered again on the following possession to cut the lead by to two at 11-9, but Hudson would answer with a dunk off of his own missed shot for a 13-9 edge.
Parker would score the last basket for Ruston in the first quarter on a layup with 1:10 to go in the quarter, adding to Ruston’s lead at 15-9. The Yellow Jackets would end the quarter on a 5-0 run, and the Bearcats led 15-14 going into the second quarter.
Denham Springs would find life in the second, outscoring Ruston 14-8 in the stanza. The Yellow Jackets took the lead early in the quarter with a quick bucket at the 7:35 mark of the first half, but Ruston’s defense held the Yellow Jackets scoreless for nearly three minutes. Senior Aidan Anding knocked down a couple of free throws and Parker hit a layup in transition to put Ruston up 19-16 near the five minute mark of the first half.
Denham Springs, however, would outscore Ruston 12-4 for the remainder of the half. Anding would account for a basket at the 4:15 mark, while Parker would get another layup in transition after a steal by senior Zheric Hill to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 28-23 going into the halftime locker room.
Hudson would pick up his third foul quickly in the third quarter, but Deans kept him in the basketball game. It was the right call, as Hudson would get a block and find Parker on an outlet pass for another layup for a 28-25 score with 7:22 on the clock in the third quarter. Malcolm would add another basket on the next possession to cut it to 28-27.
After a Denham Springs basket, Ruston would get four quick points, including a coast-to-coast layup from Anding to get back up 31-30. Hudson would score Ruston’s final five points of the quarter to put the ‘Cats ahead 36-35 heading into the fourth.
“We had a lot of fight in us,” Deans said. “We came back, but I wish we hadn’t gotten down like that. We got a little rattled. I used every timeout we had. I just have to find a different way to calm us down, or maybe schedule more road games in hostile environments like this.”
Shortly after Denham Springs three-pointer, Hudson would pick up his fourth foul of the night with 7:39 to play in the game. After getting down 41-36, Malcolm knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to 41-39. For the next four minutes, Ruston would outscore Denham Springs 8-3 to take a 47-44 lead with 3:52 to play. After a Ruston timeout, Denham Springs put together a 8-0 run to get the lead back with less than two minutes to play.
Ruston’s final basket would come from a three-pointer in the corner by Hudson, who led all scorers with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Parker finished the night with 12.
The night ends the Bearcat careers for Anding, Hill, Parker and seniors C.J Malone and Fabian Stringfellow. Deans believes the team will be returning a very talented team into next year.
“The future is bright for this program,” Deans said. “Everything is bright, even with this tough loss tonight. But this programs has a lot of studs in it.”
