Austin Phillips
The Eunice Lady Cats fell in the District 4-4A opener to North Vermilion, 49-42.
Eunice got on the board first with a layup from Shanyia Toussaint.
North Vermilion made their first basket with 4:45 left to go in the first quarter.
Leah Walker drained a deep three-pointer to take the lead at 7-6 with three minutes left to go in the first quarter.
The action went back and forth as North Vermilion’s Kennedy Trahan sank a layup to put the Patriots up 8-7 with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.
Toussaint started out the second quarter hot as she nailed a three-pointer to take the lead at 13-12.
The Lady Patriots responded when Jace Meyers made layup to take the lead back from the Bobcats at 14-13 with 5:00 left to go in the half.
North Vermilion quickly kept the run going when Kennedy Trahan nailed the mid-range to put the score at 18-13.
Trahan struck again after an offensive rebound to make the score 21-13 with a minute and a half left to go in the half.
Eunice finally got back on the board when Alison Freeman made both of her free-throws after a foul.
Going into the half, the Lady Patriots led the Lady Cats 26-15.
Eunice came out hot after the half as Saige Freeman drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to single digits.
North Vermilion led the Bobcats 27-18 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Late in the third quarter, Patriots Kennedy Kelly made a mid-range shot to push the lead 36-30.
To start the fourth quarter, the Bobcats made two three-pointers in a row by Mckenzie Guillory and Olivia Thibodeaux to make the score 37-36.
North Vermilion kept responding as Kennedy Kelly made a layup to make the score 43-38 with 3 minutes left to go in the game.
The Bobcats tried to stay in the game as Walker made a mid-range putting the score at 47-40.
It was too little too late as the Lady Patriots pulled away with the final score at 49-42.
Bobcats scoring leaders included Toussaint with 12 points and Walker with 8.
NVHS 51, Eunice 44
In the boys action, Eunice fell short against North Vermilion as the Patriots grabbed a 51-44 win over the Bobcats.
It took three minutes for either team to score after turnovers and rebounds, but Eunice’s Trey Cooper started off the coring with a three-pointer.
Shortly after, Cooper made another three-pointer to put the Bobcats up 6-0 with four and a half minutes left to go in the first quarter.
Eunice kept the run going when Shaun Hudson snagged an offensive rebound and scored the layup to take an 8-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.
North Vermilion finally got on the scoreboard late in the first quarter when Darius Gilliam made a layup to make the score 8-2.
The Patriots cut the lead in half when Rontzel Broussard made both of his free-throws with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
To start the second quarter, Bobcat’s Rondrelyn Mitchell snagged a pass from the Patriots and quickly dished it to Dedric Vigers for the three-pointer and the Bobcats led 11-6.
After a rally by the Patriots, Christian Mcnees sank a mid-range jumper to take the lead for the first time in the game with five minutes left in the half.
Shortly after, Vigers grabbed an offensive board, and went up for the layup putting the Bobcats down by two with a score of 15-13 with 3:40 left in the half.
Eunice’s Bryson Poullard scored on a fast break to tie the game at 15 shortly after with 2:45 left in the half.
Going into halftime, the Bobcats led 18-17.
Cooper started off hot again when he nailed a three-pointer to put the Bobcats up 21-17 with just over 6 minutes left to go in the third quarter.
Vigers grabbed another offensive rebound and scored another layup, extending the Bobcats lead to 24-19.
North Vermillion’s Parker Mcnees drained two three-pointers in a row to cut down their deficit to 29-25 with 3:15 left in the third quarter.
Patriot’s Darius Gilliam then recorded two steals that led to baskets to close the gap to 31-20.
The Bobcats kept scoring as Fred Guillory dished a pass to Cooper for the basket and the Bobcats led 33-30 going into the fourth quarter.
To start off the fourth quarter, Bobcat’s Joseph Anderson converted a conventional three point play to push the Bobcats lead to six points.
Rontzel Broussard responded with a three point play to as the Pats trimmed the deficit back to three with four minutes left in the game.
Broussard hit a free-throw make it a two-point game, 41-39.
Another foul by the Bobcats allowed the Pat’s Parker Mcnees to make both free-throws. The score was close at 43-41, but the Bobcats still led.
Mcnees tied the game with a layup with 2:10 remaining in the game.
With 38 seconds left, Christian Mcnees stepped up to the free-throw line and knocked down two free-throws to put the Patriots ahead 46-44.
After the Bobcats missed two free-throws, they were never able to catch up and the final buzzer sounded with the final score of 51-44.
Bobcat’s scoring leader was Cooper with 16 points.