By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — The Rebels had no answer Tuesday night in the fourth quarter for sophomore Ahmad Hudson, who scored 19 points in the final period, and helped Ruston High (8-4) get a 73-63 home win in an officially non-district matchup with fellow 2-5A member West Monroe (7-9).
Hudson would lead the way for the Bearcats with 28 points, 26 rebounds and six blocked shots in total for the night after only scoring eight points through the first three quarters.
“Ahmad is capable of performing that way for four quarters,” Ruston High assistant coach Corey Deans said. “I don’t know what was going on in the first three quarters. I didn’t fuss at him — we didn’t change anything. He didn’t want to lose. He started playing “Ahmad” basketball.”
After an opening basket by West Monroe, four straight made free throws by sophomore Keshun Malcolm put Ruston ahead 4-2 with 7:10 to go in the first. Senior Aidan Anding added a three shortly after to put Ruston up 7-2 with 6:30 in first before adding a pair of layups over the next two minutes to extend Ruston’s lead to 11-4 with five to go in the opening quarter.
After two made baskets by West Monroe, Malcolm hit a long three-pointer from the top of the circle to put the Bearcats up 14-8 at the 3:42 mark. Following a made free throw by sophomore Ahmad Hudson, Malcolm added five of the Bearcats’ next seven points to put Ruston up 22-8 with 1:30 to go in the first before West Monroe scored the final five points to cut the lead to 22-13.
The Rebels, however, would answer in the second quarter, outscoring the Bearcats 9-3 in the first six minutes of the period to cut the lead to 25-22. Ruston would only score on free throws for the remainder of the half, and took a 29-25 lead into the locker room.
Back-to-back baskets by West Monroe tied the game 29-29 at the 6:20 mark in the third before a made free throw by Malcolm put Ruston back ahead 30-29. The Rebels would take their first lead of the night on the next play 31-30 and added two more baskets after that, leading Ruston to take a time out with 5:17 to go in the third quarter down 35-30.
The Bearcats answered, however, by outscoring the Rebels 13-7 for the remainder of the third, capped off by Malcolm knocking down a fall-away three-point shot at the buzzer to give Ruston a 48-42 lead.
“Sometimes I hate playing at home, because I thought that was a terrible shot selection,” Deans said. “I told both the guards to drive. West Monroe was in the bonus, so I wanted us to drive the ball and get fouled for two free throws. But he got the shot, and sometimes when you’re living right, good things happen to you.”
In the fourth, Hudson scored 19 of Ruston’s 25 points to solidify the victory.
Malcolm finished with 25 total on the night after getting 13 points in the first half and adding 12 points in the third quarter. Anding finished with 14 points for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats will officially start district play Friday, Jan. 17, following the girls’ game at 5:30 p.m. Deans said he will be specifically watching for his team’s ability to focus as they look to get a district crown.
“First, we have to get to practice and fix all of our mistakes,” Deans said in conclusion. “I think when we play at home and we make a big play, we get involved with the crowd, and other teams go back on the other end and score it. So I think I have to figure out something to get the guys to focus.”
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