New life inside the Brick House

Cedar Creek’s intimate basketball setting has entered the modern age.

After months of construction and design collaboration, Cedar Creek’s gymnasium has completed its new look with upgraded bleachers, six hoops, new stairs, and wall padding, along with a ceiling paint job. Two scoreboards and school spirit wall graphics will also be added by early November in time for the Brickhouse Bash.

Lance Hall, a member of Cedar Creek’s board of directors, said the gym’s facelift is just another step in making sure each Cougar athletic program has a space worth cherishing for years to come.

“If you think about the steps we’ve laid out, we completely did the irrigation on the football field, we resodded, and we did that whole thing. We redid all the lights for football, baseball, softball, and now done the digital scoreboard for football. We’ve renovated the gym,” Hall said. “So, we’re just going through the steps we laid out probably a year and a half ago.”

The most noticeable change in the gym’s look is the amount of space added by removing bulky wooden bleachers and replacing them with sleeker units. And while the intimate atmosphere may not be right on top of the action, where fans would be less than an arm’s length away from players, coaches, and officials in a game, Hall knows Creek fans will still be able to have their presence be felt.

“With them (bleachers) pulled in like this, we picked up about 5 feet on each side, so we created about 10 to 12 feet more of usable space sideways to sideways,” Hall said. “And when the bleachers get pulled out, it’s really going to be super intimate.”

Cedar Creek Athletic Director Gene Vandenlangenberg agrees with Hall that Creek’s modern touch to the gym has done nothing to the up-close, small-school intensity that comes with playing in the Brickhouse. But they simply couldn’t pass up the chance to create additional sideline access and walking space.

“It stayed about the same. We’re still over 500 [capacity], which is what we need to be. We pretty much stayed the same,” Vandenlangenberg said. “The floor looks like we’ve enlarged the floor.”

Cedar Creek girls basketball coach Katie Hall loves the new look of the gym, especially the ability to use the new goals at different heights without needing to hand crank the hoops to the desired height and angle.

“I’m extremely grateful to be able to work for a school and administration that has a commitment of excellence to all the sports on campus,” Katie Hall said. “We have so many great things going on at Cedar Creek, from academics, extracurricular activities and sports programs, that it’s no wonder we are attracting some wonderful families.

“Personally, I’m excited to have new basketball goals that can change heights for our youth programs. I want to get these kids excited to play basketball at a young age so they can fall in love with the game and our culture we are building around our basketball program. Our current team has a sense of pride of being a part of something special here at Cedar Creek and getting the Brickhouse facelift has really created a buzz. Now I’m ready to fill up the new bleachers with our fans to show them how appreciative we are by competing, working hard and playing together as a team,” she added.

Lance Hall shares Katie’s sentiment of enjoying less work needed to move hoops.

“I spent 10 years of my life coming up and getting a ladder and hanging an old goal. Now, you just press a button, and it drops to 8 feet. It’s amazing,” Lance Hall said.

Lance Waldron, Cedar Creek boys basketball coach, enjoys the gym’s combination of classic brick style and modern bleachers and hoops. And after practicing at Ten-10 Training throughout the summer and early fall as construction continued, Waldron is eager for his team to showcase their skills in an environment built to win.

“The design plan for the Brickhouse seamlessly tied the new court and bleachers to the iconic brick walls,” Waldron said. “There is a new culture and excitement for Cedar Creek basketball. Our team appreciates everyone that made this possible.”

Lance Hall made sure in the design process the Cougars would be able to enjoy modern amenities without losing the tradition that makes Creek basketball unique, even talking to former Cougar players about what they’d like to see stay and go.

“Keeping the authentic look was critical to the design element of this is who we are. It’s intimate. The brickhouse is what makes it special,” Lance Hall said. “So, it was just trying to make ways to make it modern but still connected to the history of it.”

As just one part of Creek’s $5 million athletics strategic plan, Lance Hall said the main gymnasium project is among many highlights to come on campus.

Hall said permits will go to the City of Ruston within the next month for approval on the design process for a sports performance building, featuring an 80x140 square foot weight room, office space, indoor turf, and potentially an indoor pitching area. Depending on the permit process, Hall hopes to have the facility ready for use by Summer 2025.