PORT BARRE – The Eunice High Lady Bobcats opened play in the St. Landry Parish Basketball Tournament Thursday night and came away with a 57-43 victory over the Beau Chene Lady Gators.
The Lady Cats took a 12-9 lead after one quarter, with Shania Toussaint and Stacie White scoring four points apiece to lead the scoring.
Eunice High would extend its lead early in the second quarter.
White would drive for a basket at the start of the quarter, then steal a pass and go to the free-throw line when she was fouled driving to the basket.
White made both free throws to put the Lady Cats ahead by a 16-9 margin.
But the Lady Gators would close the gap to 16-14 with 5:28 left in the first half. But the Lady Cats’ Leah Walker ended the Beau Chene surge when she intercepted a pass and drove in for a goal to put the Lady Cats up 18-14.
Toussaint did the same to put the Lady Cats up by a 20-14 margin.
Two field goals by Eaglin helped Beau Chene pull within four points at 28-24 at the half.
White and Walker combined for six points in the second quarter to lead the Lady Cats.
Walker would lead Eunice in the early going of the third quarter, scoring five points to help extend the Eunice lead to 39-29 with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lady Cats would enjoy a 41-31 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
The Eunice girls would put the game away by the halfway point of the final quarter, building a 53-37 advantage with just 4:02 left in the game.
Walker and White each had a field goal in the late going to seal the victory.
Three Lady Bobcats hit the double-digit mark in scoring against the Lady Gators.
White led the way with 22 points. Walker added 17 and Toussaint chipped in with 10 points as the Lady Bobcats improved to 2-10 on the season.
Northwest 60, Eunice 57
PORT BARRE – There will be a new parish champion in 2016.
Defending champions Eunice High put up a battle against Northwest Thursday night as both teams opened play in the St. Landry Parish Basketball Tournament, but the Raiders prevailed by a 60-57 margin.
The game shifted back and forth in the early going with the Bobcats holding a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to the scoring of Mykal Moore and Dylan Miller, who combined for ten points.
The Cats extended their lead to 15-11 in the second quarter on a free throw by Georrein Dupre, but Anthony White cut the lead to 15-13 with a basket inside.
Dupre got those points back on a steal and a drive for two points to put the Bobcats up 17-13.
But Eunice would struggle offensively over the next four minutes as the Raiders went on a 15-0 run to build a 28-17 lead with 2:46 left in the quarter.
Two field goals by Carlin Vigers and a three-point goal by Malik Poullard helped to pull the Cats within 28-26, but the Raiders would add six more points in the final seconds to take a 34-26 lead into halftime.
Northwest’s August Pitre and White shared top scoring honors with seven points apiece in the third quarter.
Eunice’s Brandon Ndubueze opened the third quarter with a basket for the Bobcats to cut the lead to 34-28, but Kammyrn Jones hit a 3-point goal to put the Raiders up 37-28.
The Raiders would go on to outscore the Bobcats 15-10 in the quarter to take a 49-36 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Raiders would extend their lead to as much as 14 points (54-40) with just under five minutes left in the game.
But the Bobcats would go on a scoring run of their own, pulling within 57-55 on basket by Dashawn Vigers on an assist by Ndubueze with just over a minute remaining.
Pitre responded for the Raiders with a field goal and the Cats were forced to intentionally foul Tarik Andrus, who hit one of two free throws with 16.8 seconds left on the clock for a 60-55 lead.
Eunice High’s Avery Lee hit a field goal at the buzzer, but the Raiders were able to hang on for the 60-57 victory.
Vigers led the Bobcats with 15 points, while Ndubueze chipped in eight and Poullard added seven points.
After completing the parish tournament, the Bobcats will participate in the Jennings tournament that tips off Monday.