By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — The first game of the inaugural Origin Bank Classic was entertaining on many counts for the fans in attendance, though, unfortunately for Ruston High (3-1), the Lady Bearcats suffered their first loss of the season to Oak Grove (3-2) by a final score of 61-53 as five-star center Caroline Bradley scored the vast majority of the points for the Lady Tigers in the Thomas Assembly Center.
“I felt like the girls came out, and we started off playing hard,” Ruston High Head Coach LaShanda Cooper said. ”There were some things that occurred in the game that kind of took us off track. We wanted to look at taking more charges and and things like that and just being a little bit more physical with (Bradley), but a lot of ticky-tack fouls were called early, so it kind of made our girls shy away from the game plan a little bit. But overall, I think the girls played hard. We hit some key shots. We just got we got away from the game plan.”
Ruston took an early 5-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to shots from both junior Angelica Green and sophomore Jayleen Spann in the first minute. Bradley would score her first basket a few minutes later to cut Ruston’s lead to 7-4 with 3:53 to go in the first quarter.
The Lady Bearcats got a second three-pointer in the first quarter courtesy of junior Bailee Harrison, who finished with four three-pointers for the game overall.
Ruston stayed neck-and-neck with Oak Grove all the way through the first half, and with the Lady Bearcats down 28-26 in the final seconds of the second quarter, Green launched a half-court shot at the buzzer that swished through the net and got a raucous reaction from the crowd.
“She really stepped up today,” Cooper said of Green. “We’ve been pushing leadership, both vocally with her and with her actions. A lot of times she’s more of the action person. So she’s stepping into the role of being a vocal leader and being able to control the offense and facilitate the game for us on our end. It speaks volume to her growth and and what it is that we’re needing her to eventually become.”
Bradley’s 41 points was too much to overcome as the Lady Tigers outscored Ruston 16-10 in the fourth quarter to win.
Harrison led the Lady Bearcats in scoring with 17 points, while Green finished with 13.
The Lady Bearcats will be back in action Friday, Dec. 5, in an out-of-state matchup with El Dorado High School in Arkansas. Tip off is set for 6:00 p.m.
