John Burson
The Eunice High Bobcats claimed a District 5-3A victory over Pine Prairie in basketball action played Friday at the Bobcat gym.
Coach Chad Andrepont’s Bobcats pulled away from the Panthers in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Panthers by a 23-18 margin to claim the win.
The Bobcats were hot in the first quarter, scoring the first seven points of the quarter for the quick lead.
The Cats built an 11-5 lead with 3:35 remaining in the quarter, but the Panthers went on an 8-4 run to pull within 15-13 by the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers tied the game at 15-15 on a field goal by J.J. Sims off a steal and Darnekk Durgin hit a trey to give the Panthers an 18-15 lead with just two minutes gone in the second quarter.
Eunice High’s Malik Poullard quickly tied the game at 18-18 as he hit a shot from beyond the 3-point arc.
The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the quarter befire Deshawn Vigers rebounded a Panther miss and put it back in for a field goal with less than a minute left to tie the score at 24-24.
Poullard took a hard shot and fell to the floor on Eunice’s next possession as he drove for the Panther goal.
Mykal Moore made both free throws to give the Cats a 26-24 lead, but Pine Prairie’s Raylin Thomas hit a trey at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 27-26 halftime lead.
Poullard would return to the floor later in the game for the Bobcats.
The Panthers opened the third quarter with a flurry, hitting their first three baskets for a 33-26 lead. But Carlin Vigers and Jude Cormier would have back-to-back field goals to pull the Cats back to a 33-30 deficit.
Deshawn Vigers would add two field goals on back-to-back plays to cut the Panthers lead to one point.
Brandon Ndubueze added six points in the fnals 1:10 to give the Bobcats a 45-42 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Goals by Poullard and Moore gave the Cats a 49-42 lead, but Thomas responded with a goal for the Panthers.
Poullard made two free throws and Moore drove for a bucket to extend the Bobcat lead to 53-44, but a feild goal by Sylus Carson cut the lead to 53-46.
Moore added a field goal and Carlin Vigers another to extend the lead to 57-47.
The Panthers’ Isaiah Payne scored six points on three consecutive possessions to cut the Eunice lead to 57-55, but Ndubueze added another put-back goal and Poullard had a goal to give the Cats a 61-57 lead.
The Cats would earn the win from the free-throw as Ndubueze made two-of-three from the line and Cormier had two free throws of his own.
Georrein Dupre would add three of four from the line to give the Cats the victory by a 68-60 margin.
Ndubueze topped the Cats in scoring with 16 points.
Poullard added 15 and Cormier, Carlin Vigers, Deshawn Vigers, and Moore finished with eight apiece.
The Cats improved to 8-15 overall and to 2-3 in district play.
PPHS 49 Eunice 43
After a solid first half, the Lady Bobcats found themselves with 24-19 lead over the visiting Pine Prairie High but the Lady Panthers escaped with a 49-43 win.
The third quarter proved difficult for Coach Wayne Fontenot’s team as the Lady Panthers’ defensive play limited the Lady Bobcats to just six points while the Lady Panthers ripped the nets for 18 points.
Brandy Manuel led the way for Pine Prairie with six points in the quarter, including a three-point goal. Brianna Bradley chipped in with another three for the Lady Panthers.
Shania Malveaux had two field goals in the quarter for the Lady Bobcats, who trailed 37-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
With Stacie White leading the way with six points, the Lady Cats battled back, acutally tying the score at 41-41 with 2:51 left in the game.
But the Lady Pantherss’ Tori Bordelon would hit a free throw to put her team ahead 42-41. Malveaux made a field goal for the Lady Cats, but Bordelon hit two more free throws to put the Lady Panthers up 48-43.
The Panthers closed out the scoring for a 49-43 victory.
White led the scoring for the Lady Bobcats with 19 points. Malveaux added 10 and Leah Walker had eight points.
Leading the Lady Panthers in scoring was Bordelon with 23 points. Manuel finished with eight points.
The Lady Cats fell to 3-4 in district play. Overall they are 5-19.
Eunice travels to Ville Platte Tuesday.