PORT BARRE – The Eunice High Bobcats dropped games to Carencro and Cecilia in boys basketball action during play at the Port Barre High Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Bobcats opened the season with a 73-58 loss to Mamou on the road despite a 23-point effort by J’seri Guillory.
Against Carencro, the Bobcats fell to the Bears by an 88-60 margin. Brandon Ndubueze led the Cats with 16 points against Carencro.
Coach Chad Andrepont’s Bobcats more than held their own against the Cecilia High Bulldogs in an 86-80 loss on Tuesday.
The Cats and the Bulldogs went back and forth in the early part of the first quarter, with Bulldogs holding an 11-9 lead midway through the opening quarter.
But Cecilia began to pull away in the latter part of the quarter as they went on a 16-8 run to build a 32-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Joshua Fontenot led the scoring for the Bulldogs in the quarter with 14 points.
The Bobcats rallied back in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs by a 9-3 margin in the opening minutes thanks to field goals by Dashawn Vigers,
Georrein Dupre, and Malik Poullard. Dupre and Poullard both hit goals from beyond the three-point line.
Dupre had seven points and Poullard had five points as the Cats actually pulled ahead at 39-38 on a steal and a driving basket by Dupre.
But the Bulldogs regained the lead thanks to the play of Jevon Berny, who drove inside twice in the final minutes of the first half to give his team a 44-41 lead.
The Cats scored the first points of the third quarter on a Vigers goal, but the Bulldogs went on a 16-2 run to build a 60-45 lead.
The Cats responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Bulldogs 17-5 over the final four minutes of the third quarter.
The scoring surge by the Bobcats pulled them within three points of the lead, trailing 65-62 going into the fourth quarter.
Poullard’s 3-point goal tied the game at 65-65 in the first minute of the fourth quarter and Keithan Monday hit a two-point goal to put the Cats on top by a 67-65 margin. Brandon Ndubueze was fouled on a scoring drive and hit the free throw to give the Cats a 70-65 lead with 7:01 left in the game.
But the Bulldogs would make another run to tie the game at 70-70 and later managed to pull ahead 77-73 with 3:34 left on the clock on two field goals by Berny. The Bulldogs would hold off the Bobcats over the final three minutes to secure the 86-80 victory.
Fontenot and Berny topped the scoring for Cecilia with 31 and 29 points, respectively. Poullard and Vigers shared scoring honors with 19 points apiece for the Cats. Ndubueze added 13 and Dupre had nine for the Bobcats.