RUSTON, La. — It may not have been pretty for all four quarters, but a 16-0 start on Monday night helped propel the Ruston High Bearcats (16-3; 4-0 District 2-5A) over the Neville Tigers (17-9; 3-1 District 2-5A) by a final score of 71-52 and crowned Ruston as the 2025-26 District 2-5A champions — their first since the 2021-22 season.
“It feels good,” Ruston High Head Coach Marcus Jackson said of winning the district championship. “It’s good for the school and good for the community to be able to win this championship. That was one of our goals, and we have got many more goals.”
Ruston’s offense got to work quickly as junior Jasen Morgan knocked down a three-pointer with 6:33 to go in the first quarter. Junior KeShun Malcolm followed with a pair of free throws and a layup to put the Bearcats up 7-0, and sophomore Darren Ford hit a mid-range jumper at 5:05 for a 9-0 score before Neville took its first time out. Morgan added to the onslaught with a layup on the next possession, and sophomore Kohl Gray would hit a free throw to put Ruston up 12-0 with 4:15 to go in the first. Neville would take another timeout after a steal and fast break by Morgan to try to settle the crowd down trailing 14-0.
The Tigers would get their first basket of the night on a jumper by junior Parker Robinson with 3:31 to go in the first, which junior Ahmad Hudson followed with an offensive put back for the Bearcats to go up 16-2.
Neville’s Jayden Austin would score the Tigers’ next five points by himself, which included a thunderous dunk in traffic, where he was fouled and made the free throw, to cut Ruston’s lead to 16-7 with 2:08 to go in the first. Neville added a late bucket in the quarter for a 17-10 score with Ruston up seven.
Ruston opened up the second quarter with a 6-0 run to take a 23-10 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half before Neville got its first point of the quarter on a made free throw following a Ruston technical with 5:10 to go in the first. The Bearcats would continue to pull away throughout the quarter and to put icing on the cake, Ford would hit a half-court buzzer-beater to end the half to put Ruston up 40-17.
Neville chipped away at Ruston’s lead in the third quarter, getting as close as 47-33 with 3:40 to go in the period after a 9-0 run and seven straight points from Tiger guard Jayden Austin. The Bearcats would maintain the edge through the third and led 57-40 going into the fourth quarter, where Ruston maintained its lead for the remainder of the game.
Ford led Ruston with 23 points on the night, while Malcolm finished with 15. Hudson finished the game with 13 points.
“Each one of those players got a unique talent, and we could feed off each other,” Jackson said. “The rest of them will get going. We didn’t get out in an open court like we did in the last game, but defensively, we are still doing a good job. (Darren) did make some make some shots and got us going a little bit.”
Neville’s Austin led all scorers with 25 points.
The Bearcats were slated to host Ouachita Wednesday, but that game has been canceled. Ruston returns to the hardwood Friday, Feb. 13, against West Monroe following the varsity girls’ game at 5:30 p.m.
