Ruston wins 10 straight in blowout over Chiefs
Ruston freshman Ahmad Hudson scored a game-high 17 points in the Bearcats’ 73-25 win over West Ouachita on Friday. Photo by Josh McDaniel
So much for being rusty.
After a week off from play due to winter weather, both Ruston basketball teams returned to action Friday against district foe West Ouachita and came away with blowout wins, with the Lady Bearcats (17-7, 2-0 District 2-5A) winning 67-19 and the Bearcats (13-7, 2-0 District 2-5A) making easy work of the Chiefs in a 73-25 victory.
The girls sped up West Ouachita into 35 turnovers and just eight made field goals, using breakaway speed in transition and active hands in full-court press to build a doubledigit lead in short order.
The first two minutes of the game saw four total turnovers and no points, but once the game speed and assignments came back for Ruston, the team went on a 10-2 run over the final three minutes in the quarter to lead 15-6. The game was put away in the second quarter as Ruston opened the frame on a 9-0 run, turning the Lady Chiefs over at a high rate with tight press defense.
It was the final nail in the coffin for West Ouachita as Ruston walked into the halftime break up 37-10.
West Ouachita’s turnover issues continued into the third quarter as well, allowing Ruston to steamroll ahead 54-14 entering the fourth.
The Lady Bearcats have won their two district games by an average of 51.5 points.
Ruston senior Zaccheya Jackson matched West Ouachita by herself with 19 points, while adding 3 steals to her night. Jaliyah McWain scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to go with 9 steals in just 15 minutes of action. Kiersynce McNeal scored 8 points as well, while A’Niya Moore scored 7 in the win.
“I told them at halftime we look kind of off and missed some bunnies and layups and fastbreak things, and not they were all easy, but things we typically make more of,” Lady Bearcats head coach Meredith Graf said. “I felt like we got going and ran a little bit and when we verbally spoke about crashing the boards and getting second chances, it helped us get our motor going. Overall, very pleased. We need to stay in a sense of pushing, locking in and creating good habits. That’s difficult to do at times, but I think given the situation with break we did a good job of getting in a groove.”
The game went similarly for the Bearcats, with the boys rolling up a 22-7 lead by the end of the first quarter, led by Ahmad Hudson scoring 12 of the team’s first 13 points. Hudson would finish with 17 points and 12 rebounds in less than 20 minutes given the game’s wide margin — a 45-9 lead by halftime.
Ruston brought in its second and third units to close the game, with Mason Delaney, Fabian Stringfellow, and Zatterion Sutton each getting minutes in the second half.
Along with Hudson’s efforts, Zhy Scott scored 12 points, while Joran Parker added 10 points. KeShun Malcom put up 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
“Being off a few days, and we practiced Thursday, we wanted to get out and get up and down the floor, knock the cobwebs off,” Ruston head coach Ryan Bond said. “West Ouachita – they’ve struggled this year a little bit but I thought overall our energy was good. We got the ball inside at the beginning and set the tone there.
“ We always try to guard against developing bad habits and I thought the top seven guys I thought did some good things. I thought some guys that came off the bench gave up a few baskets and that’s something we need to tighten up on right there. But overall, for being off this many days and coming out and winning pretty easy I was pleased.”
Ruston will have a break in district play to host Arcadia tonight, with the Lady Bearcats tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the Bearcats following afterwards. Both squads already knocked off Arcadia on the road in their previous matchup on Dec. 11.
