The first half of the game was dominated by tenacious defense by both teams, with Coach John McLemore’s Bobcats holding a 17-15 lead.
The Cats’ offense came to life in the third quarter, aided by half-court pressure which forced the Devils out of their game.
The Bobcats scored the first two goals of the third quarter on a driving basket by Warren Guidry and a 3-point field goal by Ben Allison to extend their lead to 22-15.
The Cats extended their lead to 31-22 by the end of the quarter and led by as many as 15 with 3:17 remaining in the fourth quarter.
A barrage of three-point field goals over the final two minutes pulled Port Barre to within six points, but the Cats refused to let them get any closer.
“Our pressure was the key for us tonight,” commented McLemore. “We forced a lot of turnovers and converted them into points.”
The Bobcats, who improved to 12-11 overall and to 5-3 in district play, was led offensively by Allison with 16 points. Guidry also hit the double-figure mark in scoring with 13.
Shon Edwards had seven, Derek Denton had six, Trenon Trosclair had four, and Sam Arvie and Travis Godfrey added two apiece to complete the scoring.
Keshon Fontenot led Port Barre (13-11, 4-3) with 17 points. Fontenot hit five field goals from beyond the 3-point arc. Tony Lamb chipped in with 12 for the Red Devils.
The Bobcats will host district leader Rayne on Tuesday in their final home game of the season.
It will be Senior Night for both basketball teams.
The Cats will wrap up the regular season Friday on the road at Church Point.
PBHS 49, Eunice 48
The Eunice High Lady Bobcats saw a late rally fall one point short Friday night as they fell 49-48 to the Port Barre High Lady Red Devils in 5-3A action.
The Lady Bobcats (7-13, 3-5) trailed in the early going, but managed to tie the game at 25-25 midway in the third quarter on a shot by Kate McLemore. A basket by Kwanzaa Andrus regained the lead for the Lady Devils, McLemore retied the game at 27-27 with a rebound and put-back goal with 2:45 left in the third quarter. But Port Barre went on a 6-0 run to end the third quarter for a 33-27 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Cats would fall behind by as much as 11 points at the 3:42 mark before staging a rally to cut the deficit to 48-45 on Hali Jack’s 3-point goal with under a minute remaining. The Lady Red Devils got an important free throw from Myra Mallett with to go up 49-45, but another 3-point goal by Jack in cut the margin to one point as in the final seconds, but the clock ran out before the Lady Cats could gain possession.
“We fought very hard tonight,” commented Coach Brett Simien about the effort of his team. “We just couldn’t get a break in the final minutes.”
Dashaya Vigers finished as the leading scorer for the Lady Cats with 12 points. Jack finished with 10 and McLemore had eight. Beulah Bradley added seven points, Taylor Freeman had six, and Keia Patton finished with five.
Andrus led Port Barre with 12 points. Sharona Hardy had 11 and Rona Hardy added nine.
Poor free-throw shooting was a factor in the Eunice loss. The Lady Cats made just four of 13 attempts from the line, while Port Barre hit nine of 14 charity tosses.
It will be Senior Night for the Lady Cats on Tuesday when they host Rayne.
Post a Comment