By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — What a third quarter it was Friday night for No. 2 Ruston.
Between an explosive offense and a filthy defense, the Bearcats outscored the No. 23 Parkway Panthers 30-7 in third quarter alone to help propel Ruston to a 68-30 win and a trip to its third state tournament appearance in four years.
“I think in the first half we were playing uptight and trying not to make mistakes,” Ruston High Head Coach Marcus Jackson said. “In the third quarter, we got going. We had defense that led to offense, and that’s what allowed us to win. We preach that defense wins championships — if we’ve got a chance to win it, we have to play defense first.”
Ruston found itself down toward the end of the first quarter 10-6 after being held scoreless for nearly six minutes before sophomore Darren Ford hit his first of three-straight three-pointers — first at the end the first period and then two more in a row to start the second to put the Bearcats up 15-11 with 5:44 to go in the first half.
After a pair of Ford free throws, junior Ahmad Hudson then scored six of Ruston’s nine points for the remainder of the quarter to help put Ruston up 26-18 at halftime.
In the third quarter, it was junior Keshun Malcolm’s turn to take over after he scored nine of Ruston’s for 12 points of the period to put Ruston up 38-20 with 3:35 to go in the period. Two back-to-back dunks right after by Ford sent the crowd into a frenzy and forced Parkway to take a timeout with 3:00 to go in the third, where the Bearcats would go on to lead 56-25 going into the fourth.
And after a Malcolm bucket and a Hudson dunk, the clock ran for the rest of the game en route to the Ruston victory.
Ford finished the night with 26 points, while Hudson and Malcolm had 15 and 13, respectively, in front of a raucous crowd.
“All three of those guys have unique talents,” Jackson said. “If we play off each other and not try to play against one another, that opens up the flow of the game. It was obviously a playoff atmosphere, for sure. Ruston has a great crowd and a great community.”
For Jackson, taking the Bearcats back to the state tournament feels pretty sweet after some personal difficulties from last year.
“Where I was last year being hurt and then burying my mother, this is just overwhelming,” an emotional Jackson said. “I’m just so proud of the guys. They’re buying in. They didn’t know me coming into (last) season. I thought the Oregon trip helped us, a lot of church trips, eating together — that all helped us get to this moment. I’m proud of Ruston High’s administrators and teachers — they supported me this whole while, and I’m just thankful and grateful for it.”
The Bearcats will face No. 6 Central – B.R. in the semifinals in the LHSAA State Tournament in Lake Charles, La., on Thursday, March 7 at 8 p.m.
