The Eunice High Lady Bobcats opened District 5-3A play with a 62-35 victory over the Port Barre Lady Red Devils in basketball action Monday night at the Bobcat gym.
The Lady Cats managed an 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, with sophomore Stacie White leading the scoring with seven points.
Eunice would pull away in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Red Devils by a 23-12 margin.
Leah Walker had six points and White added five to lead the Lady Cats in scoring in the quarter to take a 34-12 lead.
The Lady Cats, with Fontenot subbing frequently, would maintain the edge over the Lady Red Devils over the final two quarters to secure the win and go 1-0 in district play.
Three Lady Bobcats hit double digits in scoring, led by White with 19 points, including three 3-point field goals.
Leah Walker added 15 points and Shania Malveaux had 10 points.
Shania Toussaint pitched in with eight points and Jesslyn Reed added five. Alida Darbonne and Aimaya Johnwell rounded out the scoring with three and two points, respectively.
Chassidy Fontenot led Port Barre in scoring with eight points. India Savoie had six points.
Eunice entertains Ville Platte 6 p.m. Friday as district play continues.
Jennings 69, EHS 66
The Jennings High School Bulldogs rallied late in the fourth quarter in a back-and-forth game to nip the Eunice High Bobcats by a 69-66 margin in non-district basketball action Tuesday vening at the Bobcat gym.
Eunice fell behind in the early going, trailing the Bulldogs by an 18-8 margin at the end of the first quarter. But the Bobcats bounced back to trail by only a 32-24 score at the half. Malik Poullard helped the Bobcats by scoring nine points to pace the Cats in the second quarter.
The Bobcats surged into the lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs by a 26-20 margin. The Cats tied the score at 36-36 with 3:54 left in the third quarter. The Cats trailed 52-50 at the end of the quarter. Brandon Ndubueze and Jude Cormier had eight apiece in the third quarter, while Poullard led his team with 10 points.
The two teams battled back and forth at the start of the fourth quarter, with Jennings going up 58-54 on a drive by Travis Etienne at the 6:12 mark. But Carlin Vigers nailed a 3-point field goal to pull the Cats within one point at 58-57 with 5:50 left on the clock.
After both teams struggled with turnovers over the next three minutes, Etienne drove for a goal to put Jennings ahead 60-57, but Ndubueze hit a short shot to cut the lead to 60-59 with 2:02 left on the clock. Poullard put the Cats on top 62-60 with a long 3-point field goal with 1:35 left in the game, but Jennings’ Dawain Madden drove for a basket on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 62-62.
Ndubueze was fouled and sank both free throws to put the Cats ahead 64-62 with 46 seconds left in the game. Vigers added two free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give the Bobcats a 66-62 lead. But Madden hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 66-65 with 15 seconds left. Etienne would go to work at that point, hitting a field goal and converting both ends of a one-and-one to put Jennings ahead 69-66. The Bobcats had one more try, but a desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer missed the mark.
Madden and Etienne led the Bulldogs in scoring with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Sylk Woods added 17 for Jennings. The Bobcats were led in scoring by Malik Poullard with 24 points. Ndubueze finished with 15 and Jude Cormier had 12. Vigers added seven points for the Cats.
The Bobcats return to the court on Friday as they host Ville Platte in their district opener.