John Burson
The Eunice High Lady Bobcats trailed by one point at halftime against the Northwest High Lady Raiders in District 5-3A action Friday at the Eunice High gym.
But Coach Wayne Fontenot’s Lady Cats were unable to keep pace with the Lady Raiders in the second half.
Northwest began to pull away from the Lady Cats in the third quarter as they outscored the Lady Cats by an18-11 margin in that quarter and continue to add to their lead in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Cats by a 26-13 margin to claim a 60-40 victory.
The Lady Bobcats claimed an early lead at 9-4 in the first quarter, but the Lady Raiders managed to tie the game at 9-9 heading into second quarter play.
Eunice regained the lead on the first play of the second quarter on a three-point play by Shanyia Toussaint for a 12-9 lead, but Tashianna Fontenot sank a shot from beyond the 3-point line to tie the game at 12-12.
Both teams struggled offensively at that point, combining for just five points the rest of the quarter.
Northwest began to take charge in the early minutes of the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Bobcats by an 18-11 margin to build a 34-25 lead going into the final quarter.
Eunice was unable to challenge the Northwest lead over the final eight minutes despite Stacie White’s nine points in the quarter.
White finished the game with a team-high 16 points.
Leah Walker added 10 points and Toussaint chipped in with eight points for the Lady Cats.
Northwest was led in scoring by Khahli Malone with 18 points. Katlyn Manuel and Fontenot finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Raiders.
In boys action. the Eunice High Bobcats started slowly and could never recover as they fell to the Northwest Raiders by an 80-43 score.
The Bobcats fell behind early in the first quarter, with the Raiders taking a 19-7 lead with two minutes left on the clock. Northwest ended the quarter with a 4-0 run to hold a 23-9 lead.
Coach Chad Andrepont’s Bobcats struggled playing catchup as the Raiders went on to take a 47-20 lead into the half.
The Raiders continued to dominate the action in the third quarter, extending their lead to 65-31. The Raiders continued to dominate in the final quarter by outscoring the Bobcats 26-13.
Northwest had three players hit double figures in scoring for the game. They were Montaze Sam, Keshaun Lazard, and Amar Coleman, with 13, 12, and11 points, respectively.
Carlin Vigers was top scorer for the Bobcats with 13 points. Trey Cooper added nine points and Jordan Ledet added six for the Bobcats.