The Eunice High Lady Bobcats were unable to overcome a weak first quarter as they suffered a 61-40 loss to the North Central Lady Hurricanes Friday in the second round of the St. Landry Parish basketball tournament.
Coach Wayne Fontenot’s Lady Cats got off to a slow start, trailing the Lady Hurricanes by a 12-2 margin with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter.
The Lady Cats pulled themselves out the hole a bit as Shania Malveaux made a three-point field goal, Amya Johnwell drove for a goal, and Stacie White hit two jump shots to pull the Lady Cats to within one point at 12-11.
North Central scored a goal as the buzzer sounded after rebounding a missed shot to give the Lady Hurricanes a 14-11 lead.
The Lady Bobcats struggled at the beginning of the second quarter as North Central outscored the Lady Cats by a 9-0 in the early going to claim a 23-11 advantage.
The Lady Hurricanes outscored the Lady Bobcats by a 16-4 score in the quarter to enjoy a 30-15 lead at halftime.
North Central extended their lead to 34-15 on goals by Frandreka Keller and Katelynn Harrison. Keller added another field goal to give the Lady Hurricanes a 39-15 lead with 6:32 left in the quarter.
The Lady Bobcats fought back as Leah Walker hit a field goal and Jesslyn Reed hit a free throw and a field goal to close the scoring gap to 41-18.
North Central went on a run at that point, outscoring the Lady Cats 14-5 over the final four minutes to take a 55-23 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Lady Bobcats dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring North Central 17-6 over the final eight minutes of the contest.
Stacie White took over the scoring for the Lady Bobcats with 13 points in the final quarter.
Toussaint added four points for the Lady Cats.
White scored 22 points in the game to lead the Lady Bobcats.
Toussaint finished with five points while Malveaux and Walker added four points apiece.
Eunice High head coach Wayne Fontenot was proud of his team.
“The girls didn’t quit and I knew they wouldn’t,” he said.
After a scheduled game Saturday against the Northwest/Opelousas loser, the Lady Cats will travel to Northwest on Monday to begin District 5-3A play.
Eunice 61, PBHS 33
The Lady Bobcats opened play in the St. Landry Parish Basketball Tournament with a 61-33 victory over the Port Barre Lady Devils in action at the Bobcat gym on Thursday.
The Lady Bobcats jumped out to an early lead against Port Barre by a 19-9 margin in the first quarter.
Jesslyn Reed led the first quarter scoring for the Lady Bobcats with six points.
Stacie White added four points for the Eunice girls.
The Lady Bobcats began to pull away from the Lady Red Devils in the second quarter, with Shania Malveaux increasing the Eunice lead with a steal and a driving layup to extent the Eunice lead to 21-11.
White later hit a 3-point shot to give the Lady Bobcats a 24-13 lead with just five minutes left until halftime.
The Lady Cats outscored the Lady Devils over the final minutes to take a 34-23 lead into halftime.
Port Barre’s Brittany Sam scored the first basket of the third quarter, but the Lady Bobcats responded by outscoring the Lady Red Devils 12-8 in the quarter to build a 46-33 lead.
Leah Walker finished the quarter with six points, while Shanyia Toussaint and White added two baskets apiece to increase the Eunice lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Toussaint opened the final eight minutes with a free throw and White quickly drove for a goal to give the Lady Cats a 49-33 lead.
The Lady Cats proceeded to dominate the quarter on their way to the 61-33 victory.
Top scorer for the Lady Bobcats was Stacie White with 25 points.
Reed added 15 points,with Walker chipping in with nine.
Malveaux and Toussaint finished with four and six points, respectively.
NWHS 72, Eunice 42
The Northwest High School Raiders opened play in the St. Landry Parish Basketball Tournament with a 72-42 victory over the host Eunice High Bobcats in action Thursday evening.
Coach Chad Andrepont’s Bobcats fell behind in the early going, trailing 11-2 with 5:18 left in the first quarter.
The Bobcats did rally to cut the lead to 21-12 at the end of the quarter thanks to goals by Joshua Dupre and Cornelius Lewis.
But the Raiders continued to put pressure on the Bobcats in the second quarter, extending their lead to 39-24 at the half behind the play of August Pitre, who led the way with seven points.
The Bobcats attempted to rally in the third quarter, pulling to within 11 points at 42-31 with three minutes left in the quarter.
But the Raiders continued to hold off the Bobcats, increasing their lead to 57-40 as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.
Pitre led the scoring for the Raiders for the game with 22 points. Kammryn Jackson added 12 points for the Raiders.
Leading the scoring for the Bobcats was MyKal Moore with 12 points.
Dupre chipped in with nine points, with Carlin Vigers adding six points in the losing cause.
After completing the parish tournament Saturday, the Bobcats (2-5) will participate in the Jennings Bulldogs tournament that tips offs Thursday.