The Eunice High Lady Bobcats claimed their fourth district win with a 59-47 victory over Pine Prairie in basektball played Friday night at the Bobcat gym.
The Lady Bobcats opened the first quarter with a 7-0 start behind the play of Leah Walker, Shanyia Toussaint and Stacie White.
Pine Prairie’s Asia George scored the first two points with a driving layup to cut the Eunice lead to 7-2, but the Lady Cats responded as White drove to the Pine basket for two points for a 9-2 lead.
Bhaiana Wall cut the Eunice lead to 9-4 with a two-pointer, but Walker and White responded with baskets for a 13-4 lead with 4:49 left in the the first quarter. White stole a pass and drove all the way to the basket to pull the Lady Cats to a 15-6 lead.
Jesslyn Reed, Toussaint, and White combined to finish the first quarter with a 17-7 lead.
The Lady Cats extended their lead to 17-8 early in the second quarter.
Pine Prairie cut into the Eunice lead thanks to baskets from Maycie Hardy and Wall to cut the lead to 20-10 at midway point in the second quarter.
The Lady Cats responded by pushing their lead to 24-15 thanks to the play of White and Walker, who pushed the lead to 26-17 with 3:43 left in the quarter.
A Eunice turover helped Pine Prairie to close the gap just before halftime, leaving them trailing by a 31-25 margin at halftime.
The Lady Bobcats regained some momentum in the third quarter by outscoring Pine by a 14-8 margin, but Pine Prairie clawed back into the game late in the third, but the Lady Cats managed to hold on to a 43-34 lead by the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Bobcats took a 45-34 lead into the fourth quarter and would extend their lead to as much as 50-36 before the Lady Cats pulled away to claim the 59-47 victory.
White led Eunice in scoring with 30 points. Walker added 11 and Toussaint chipped in with eight points.
Reed added seven and Hailey Sonnier had three. J’lisa Thibeaux finished with two.
PPHS 77, Eunice 71
The Bobcats fell behind the Panthers in the opening quarter, trailing 19-15 by the end of the first quarter as Pine Prairie battled for a 77-71 district win over Eunice High.
Isaiah Payne’s play helped the Panthers to take the early lead after the Bobcats had taken 5-4 lead behind the play of Eunice’s Carlin Vigers, who hit a 3-point shot and was a factor under the goal.
The teams battled back and forth in the opening quarter, but the Panthers managed to hang on to a 19-15 at the half. Payne helped spark his team at the start of the quarter with a couple of trips to the foul line.
The Bobcats stayed within touch of the Panthers behind the play of Vigers and Mykal Moore, but the Panthers worked to extend their lead to lead late in the quarter.
The Bobcats fought back late in third quarter thanks to baskets by Vigers, Trey Cooper, and Divine Hampton.
But the Panthers kept the pressure on the Cats,even though Vigers and Moore tried to keep the game within reach, but the Panthers were able to close out the game with a 77-71 victory.
Payne led the Panthers in scoring with 32 points. Raylin Thomas contributed 16 points and Kyler Carson finished with 18 for the Panthers.
Vigers led the Bobcats in scoring with 37 points.
Moore had 14 points and Hampton chipped in with 10 points.
Eunice entertains district rival Mamou Tuesday night.
