Jackson, McWain lift Ruston past West Monroe

The bright lights of the postseason can reveal a lot about which players embrace the pressure of the moment and which tighten up and fall victim to the heat.

With the Memorial Gym lights shining on them, Ruston senior guards Zaccheya Jackson and Jaliyah McWain walked out onto center stage and not only embraced the postseason spotlight in the No. 7 Lady Bearcats' 48-37 win over No. 26 West Monroe Thursday, but delivered dual performances worthy of an encore.

Jackson had 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 steals. McWain wasn't too shabby herself with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals. Forty-two of the team's 48 points at the hands of two seniors who have been the steady forces for the Lady Bearcats all season. It was only fitting in head coach Meredtih Graf's mind postgame.

"Those two are a wonderful one-two punch," Graf said. "And the blessing is they can help each other out in the ball handling department and scoring and if somebody's maybe not hitting or is tired. They have a great understanding of what needs to happen between the two of them to get our team in a position to be more successful. Their presence on the floor is invaluable. There's no way to descirbe how important they each are to our team and I feel like, most importantly, the confidence and the comfort level they bring to their teammates."

Thanks to the efforts of McWain and Jackson, Ruston will host a second round playoff game for the first time since 2019.

The duo's presence was felt even when they weren't scoring, as both handled the ball effectively and with percision - a polar opposite of West Monroe who finished with 30 turnovers on the night to 37 points. The Rebels struggled with Ruston's press, half-court ball-pressure, and the sped-up pace Ruston forced them into.

For the Lady Bearcats to not only have a pair of dynamic scorers but two steady point guards is crucial for Ruston's postseason chances according to Graf.

"It's so important in girl's basketball," Graf said. "If you take one of them off the floor, which we did at times, two minutes here and there and if a team decides to press and do some different things, it matters. I would say that for any team. I'm so proud of them invidually, but I'm really proud of the team effort overall for scrapping it up. We didn't get upset over anything and stay in that feeling. I thought the hustle was very real tonight."

Ruston broke an early 7-7 tie on a 8-2 run over the final 3:30 of the first quarter, holding the Rebels without a field goal in that span as McWain turned live-ball turnovers by West Monroe into easy baskets on the other end to lead 15-9 after the first. Jackson and McWain scored all of Ruston's 14 points in the second quarter, with each hitting a three-pointer off an assist from the other, to carry Ruston to a 29-18 lead at the break.

The third quarter could have been a breaking point for Ruston, with the team managing just six points in the frame and failing to clean up the defensive glass like they needed to, while West Monroe cut the deficit to within nine with just over two minutes left. But Ruston held strong and held the Rebels without a field goal over the final 5:00 of the frame to maintain 35-28 lead and set up for an easy fourth quarter that saw the Rebels go without a field goal for over five minutes.

"I don't care what seed you are, it's different in the playoffs," Graf said. "I feel like a lot of times, yes, there are strengths and weaknesses to every team, it becomes an even playing field for the nerves, for the moment. To me, I told them, 'no matter what happens, we must play harder than them. It wasn't pretty but we did better for sure than we did the last time out. I thought our heart and our effort really were in a much better place. You can't just lean on your heart all the time, you gotta actually execute. The effort was higher and that's what got us over the hump."

Ruston will host No. 10 Natchitoches Central in the second round Monday at Memorial Gym. The official game time has not been decided but Graf expects tip-off to be at 6 p.m.

And that's not all she's expecting, now having to coach against her former school.

"The one thing I know about being from Natchitoches Central is we're competitors. I'm a competitor. So there is no friendship or whatever," Graf said. "We're drawing a line and I can tell you they'll be no different. It's going to be a lot of competing, full-out. I think it's a big deal to have them here at Memorial, to have a home game in the second round. That hasn't been done for Ruston High girls basketball in a long time. And some of it has to do with rules, but this is a big deal to have a second round home game to me."