Richwood’s depth is too much for Ruston Wednesday

By Kyle Roberts

RICHWOOD, La. – Three games in three nights is a lot to ask of any basketball team.

Considering a shorter roster against a strong Richwood team, that spelled trouble for Ruston High as the Bearcats (0-3) fell to the Richwood Rams (2-0) by a final score of 84-42.

Ruston was tied with Richwood 11-11 at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored 23-9 in the second quarter and trailed 34-20 at halftime. Things didn’t get any better in the second half either, after the Rams scored 34 points in the third quarter alone on their way to victory.

“We were shorthanded tonight,” Ruston High assistant coach Corey Deans said. “They were bigger, faster and stronger than us. When we got into foul trouble, we simply didn’t have any substitutes who could keep up. They brought in five players each and pushed us the whole game. And when our guards got a little tired, they ran at us.”

Ruston High School sophomore Keshun Malcolm scored in double figures for the third straight game, finishing with 17 points and going 9 of 10 from the free throw line.

“He’s coming into his own,” Deans said of Malcolm. “He believes he is the best player on the field and it will only get better for him when the rest of the (football players) come back because right now the other teams are doubling and tripling him on defense. But through that, he’s still putting up numbers, shooting good shots and playing offense.”

Ruston’s 0-3 start isn’t what the team envisioned, but Deans said there are positives to take away from this week.

“So far our offense has looked really good when we’ve played all of our sets,” Deans said. “And we can do everything defensively except rebound. The guys we played against are a bit older and can push us around a bit. But as far as competing and executing, man, I love it.”