LEBEAU – The Lady Bobcats used a balanced offense and a stingy defense as Eunice rolled to a 58-32 win over Port Barre to open the St. Landry Parish basketball tournament held at North Central High School.
Eunice opened with a 7-2 run, aided by four points from Shanyia Toussaint.
After a Lady Devil trey, by Catera Hebert, the Lady Cats answered with a 6-0 surge, sparked by four points from Madison Freeman.
Port Barre (0-5) scored on an inside bucket at the 2:57 mark for the final points in the period.
The Lady Cats (3-4) began to pull away with a 10-2 run in the second period, including four buckets off forced Lady Devil turnovers.
The offenses went cold the remainder of the period as each team scored only once in the final five minutes of the half.
Toussaint scored 14 points in the first half to lead the Lady Cats, including eight points in the second period.
With a 25-11 halftime advantage, Eunice held off Port Barre’s 11 third period points to keep a comfortable margin heading into the final period.
After a Lady Devil trey by Shea Pickney early in the third period, Eunice answered with a 6-0 run with four points by Toussaint and a drive in the lane by Leah Walker.
Walker later added two more buckets and Toussaint drilled a trey to push the Lady Cats ahead, 40-18.
Port Barre responded with four straight points to close the gap to 40-22 heading into the fourth quarter.
Madison Freeman hit a layup, Walker later scored off a steal and Allison Freeman also scored as the Lady Cats extended their lead to 46-24.
Port Barre continued to battle the Lady Cats, but buckets by Madison Freeman, Walker and Harmony Jason pushed the Lady Cats ahead, 52-28 with 3:28 left in the game.
Six late points from Toussaint helped close out the win for the Lady Cats.
Toussaint finished with 27 points to lead Eunice, while Madison Freeman chipped in 13 points and Walker contributed 10 points.
With a win over top-seed Northwest, the Lady Cats would advance to the parish championship game.
A loss to the Lady Raiders and Eunice would play for third place.
OHS 79, Eunice 61
LEBEAU – After a 23-7 explosion to open the game, it appeared Opelousas High was going to run the Bobcats right of out the gym.
But Eunice regrouped at halftime and battled back before the Tigers grabbed a 79-61 win at the St. Landry Parish boys basketball tournament.
Jon’Quarius McGee was the hot shooter for the Tigers as he drilled two treys and added eight more points in the first period.
OHS opened with a 15-1 run behind the strong performance from Kylan Williams and McGee.
Eunice’s Dedric Vigers hit a jumper with 4:47 left for the Bobcats’ first bucket.
Cleveland Ceasar later drove the lane and Fred Guillory scored on a layup to close the gap to 21-7.
OHS increased its lead to 27-7 early in the second period before Treylon Copper drained a trey for the Bobcats.
Eunice continued to battle with buckets by Vigers and Terrance Shillow pulled the Bobcats closer, 33-16.
After a 6-0 run by OHS, two free throws by Joseph Anderson and a bucket off a steal from Shawn Hudson helped the Bobcats close the margin to 39-20.
Shillow later added a put-back bucket, but OHS led 43-33 at intermission.
The Bobcats exchanged point for point with the Tigers in the third period as Eunice outscored OHS, 22-20 in the frame.
A trey by Cooper, a shot by Hudson and drive in the lane by Vigers helped Eunice close the margin to 45-29.
OHS responded with an 8-2 run, but the Bobcats then answered with a trey by Cooper and an inside bucket by Vigers.
Another three-pointer by Cooper and a jumper from Vigers close the OHS lead to 55-43.
On an inbounds bucket by Kylan Williams, OHS took a 57-44 lead into the fourth quarter where McGee quickly drilled another trey for the Tigers.
OHS outscored Eunice 22-17 in the final period to seal the win.
After a free throw early in the period, Hudson later hit a jumper as EHS closed the gap to 64-47.
The Tigers went on a 7-1 run before Cooper drained his fifth trey of the contest to close the margin to 71-51 midway through the period.
The Bobcats kept battling in the game’s final three minutes with drives in the lane from Shillow and Hudson as EHS closed the final gap to 79-61.
Cooper finished with 16 points and Vigers added 13 points to lead the Bobcats.
McGee led OHS with 25 points, while Jayden Lazard and Williams both added 13 points.
Eunice was scheduled to face Port Barre Saturday and with a win, the Bobcats could advance to the consolation finals.