By Kyle Roberts
SALEM, Oregon — Winning tournaments is always nice.
That’s just with the Bearcats (5-1) did this week by taking home the crown of the 2025 Capitol City Classic after winning four-straight game out of the state of Louisiana — and two time zones away — within the span of five days.
But when you deepen your team’s bond and get some invaluable experience off the court, well — that’s a good Christmas gift if you’re Ruston High Head Coach Marcus Jackson.
“It was good to see everyone supporting each other,” Jackson said. “They had a great chance to learn more about each other off the court and build a better camaraderie and rapport with each other. That was one of the biggest goals. These kids haven’t had the chance to be around each other much, and we wanted them to mesh together and also play good basketball. I know the situation was adverse because we hadn’t practiced much — maybe once or twice up here — but we figured some things out.
“When things got tight (in these last two games), the kids bonded together and we pulled through. I’m very proud of them, but we have got a lot of work to do when we get back to tidy up something things.”
Outside of shining on the court, the Bearcats were able to both see the Nike headquarters and participate in some various events like dunk contests and half-court shot competitions.
After Ruston picked up two wins in the first two days of the tournament, the squad had a rest day on Sunday of this past week to get ready for some more stiff competition on Monday and Tuesday. It proved to be no problem for Ruston as the Bearcats won the semifinal game over Tualatin 76-68 on Monday and then the championship game over St. Mary’s 64-61 in a nail-biter Tuesday on the campus of Willamette University.
Sophomore guard Darren Ford led Ruston in scoring in both games with 22 points against Tualatin and then 23 in the championship game. Junior KeShun Malcolm put up 21 and 10 points, respectively in the two games, while junior Ahmad Hudson finished with 21 and 20.
For their efforts, Malcolm was named MVP of the opening day against Central, while Hudson was named MVP in the games against Wilsonville and Tualatin. Ford earned MVP honors in the championship game against St. Mary’s.
“The teams we played in the final two days had a lot of chemistry over the years,” Jackson said. “I learned some things about our guys in those two games — they continued to fight, and I’m proud of them. The last two games could have gone either way, but we made plays at the end of got some stops.”
The Bearcats will now prepare for the Bossier Invitational tournament. Ruston will have a first-round bye and play on Friday, Jan. 2.
”We have some things we need to make better,” Jackson said in conclusion. “But overall, this was a good trip for the kids, and as a team, we made it happen.”
