Lady Bengals lead 2014 Top Five

There were plenty of local sports accomplishments during 2014, but here are the top five stories reprinted from their original published Eunice News editions:

Repeat!!

May 18
CLINTON, Miss. – No guts, no glory.
The LSU Eunice Lady Bengals won three games on Saturday, including a comeback 8-6 win over Jones County Community College to repeat as NJCAA Division II national champions at Traceway Park.
“It was big day for us,” head coach Andy Lee said. “It just showed the heart, the character and passion of these girls.
“It was a team win as we used every pitcher and the defense stood tall,” the coach said. “We fought through it all to win three games. It hard to believe we did that.”
Jones held a 6-0 advantage until the Lady Bengals exploded for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning to grab the lead.
Taylor Boulet, Brooklyn Clark and Emily Nolan all singled to load the bases to open the inning.
Carey Alexis drew a walk to allow Boulet to score and Danielle Cruickshank then cleared the bases to close the gap to 6-4.
Morgan Tauzin and Codi Covington reached on back-to-back walks to keep the inning alive.
Covington scored on a passed ball as Cruickshank and Tauzin both scored on a double to center by Boulet.
The Lady Bengals added their eighth run of the inning when Clark singled in Boulet and the LSUE defense held over the final two innings to seal the championship.
LSUE used three pitchers in the game as starter Kayla Davidson went two innings before being replaced by Raven Cole.
Elizabeth Delafield entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and allowed two hits in the nine batters she faced as the Lady Bengal defense stiffened to give her the win.
Clark went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Boulet went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Alexis also went 2-for-3 with a walk.
On their way to the title, LSU Eunice opened the series with wins over Delaware Tech (11-3), Scottsdale (12-2) and Des Moines (4-3).
After a 9-7 loss to Jones County, the Lady Bengals re grouped with a 1-0 win over Des Moines Area to advance to the finals.
A 5-1 win over Jones County set up the winner -take-all game for the championship.

Paul Trosclair
gets 200th win

Sept. 7
PRAIRIE RONDE – There have been plenty of memorable wins in Eunice High coach Paul Trosclair’s career.
But Thursday’ night’s 28-21 win over Northwest put the Bobcat coach into elite company among Louisiana high school football coaches.
Trailing heading into the fourth quarter, the Bobcats clawed their way back to grab the exciting win as Trosclair (200-86) tied legendary coaches Mike Mowad (200-98) and Dennis Dunn (200-41).
The drenched coach was emotional after the game with his team as his son Trenon awarded him with a special football.
“I will always remember this team for getting me the 200th win,” the coach said.
“It is a relief to get that done,” Trosclair said. “We made the plays when we needed to.”
The Bobcats battled from a 21-14 fourth -quarter deficit to earn the win over the Raiders.
“This was a struggle,” Trosclair said after the win. “We kept turning the ball over with bad snaps, fumbles and an interception.
“We had a chance to put the game away and we just didn’t do it but the interception on the screen by (Keithan) Green was the back breaker.
“We fought for four quarters and got the win,” the coach said.
The Cats took the lead with 10:09 left in the game on a five-yard run by fullback Ty Ceasar and a two-point conversion run by Ceasar for a precarious 22-21 lead.
The Raiders didn’t quit, as they drove from their own 25 to the Bobcat 28 in eight plays following the kickoff.
But on a fourth-and eight, quarterback Kaleb Fontenot had his screen pass attempt intercepted by Keithan Green. Green took it down the right sideline 68 yards for the touchdown.
The PAT run failed, but the Cats held a 28-21 lead with 5:57 left in the game.
The Raiders completed three passes for 47 yards as they drove to the Eunice 27 with 2:01 left on the clock.
Two runs produced just two yards before a quarterback sack shared by the Cats’ Damien Comeaux and A.P Sonnier dropped the Raiders back to the 32 with just 24 seconds left.
A pass interference call against the Cats gave Northwest the football at the 16-yard line with two seconds left on the clock.
Fontenot attempted a pass to Kendall Richard at the goal line, but Bobcat defensive back Triston Fyre batted the ball away to end the game.
The Raiders took a 7-0 lead with 6:21 left in the opening quarter as Chris Lee, who finished the evening with 169 rushing yards on 20 carries, scored on a two-yard run. The PAT kick by Alleman was good.
The Cats responded with a 46-yard, five-play drive capped by Ceasar’s five-yard run. A poor center snap negated the PAT as the Raiders held a 7-6 lead.
The Cats took the lead with 1:26 left in the first quarter as Ceasar scored on a one-yard run. Ceasar ran for the two points to give the Cats a 14-7 lead.
The Raiders used an interception to set up their next touchdown. Lee scored on a three-yard run with 7:24 left in the first half. Alleman kicked the PAT to tie the game at 14-14.
On their next possession, the Raiders drove to the Eunice 20, but were unable to get points as time expired.
The Raiders took the lead at the 3:42 mark of the third quarter on a 58-yard touchdown run by Lee. Alleman’s PAT was true for a 21-14 lead.
Ceasar led the Cats offensively with 12 carries for 54 yards and three touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. Frye chipped in with 48 yards on four rushes.
McLemore wins third straight

May 15
BATON ROUGE – Eunice High senior Kate McLemore won her third straight discus title with a throw of 119-4 in the Class 4-A LHSAA state track meet last Saturday at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
McLemore won the 2013 title with a throw of 116-9 after a 103-3 toss in 2012.
“This one was that meant the most,” McLemore said of the three titles.
“I competed and that was the best throw I ever had in competition.”
Her two other state titles, McLemore threw 116-9 (2013) and 103-3 (2012).
“When I was in the seventh grade I joined the track team where I threw the javelin and discus,” she said. “I threw the same size discus as the boys and I threw it farther than most of them.”
Eunice senior Jor’Don Daigle finished third in the boys javelin with a throw of 155-5.
In Class 1-A, St. Edmund senior Landen Lyons finished second in the pole vault at 13-0.
Lady Jay senior Jada Fontenot finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 33-5.
Heather Bieber finished in fourth place in the discus (97-10) and fifth in the shot put (32-7 3/4).
Heidi Bieber finished fourth in the pole vault at 7-6.

LSUE wins Miss-Lou title

March 2
CLINTON, Miss. – The LSU Eunice women’s basketball team will head to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Clinton, Miss as Miss-Lou Conference champions after a 73-56 road victory over Delgado Community College in their final regular season contest.
The Lady Bengals will take on Pearl River Community College in the final game of the opening day’s play in an 8 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday night in Clinton, Miss.
The matchup will be the first between LSU Eunice (26-3 overall) and Pearl River (17-6 overall) this season.
Pearl River enters the tournament coming off a 74-71 semi-final loss to eventual Mississippi State Champion Jones County Junior College in the Mississippi State Tournament. Pearl River won their opening round game in the state tournament in comeback fashion with a 63-52 victory.
Pearl River enters Wednesday’s matchup with losses in three of their last five games, including their final two regular season contests and the loss against Jones County.
On the year, Pearl River is averaging 62.1 points per game on 38.5 percent shooting from the floor, with a 21.2 percentage from three point range and are a 62.6 percent shooting team from the free throw line.
They have three players averaging in double figures scoring, with Shanta Echols leading the team with a 13.4 points per game average, while Kalisha Washington and Deandra Darjean each are averaging 12.2 points per game.
Echols leads the team in rebounding, averaging 10.0 rebounds per game, while Darjean leads the team with an average of 3.4 assists per contest.
The Lady Bengals head into the regional tournament averaging 76.4 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor. They tally three-point shots at a 31.8 percent clip and are 61.3 percent free throw shooters as a team.
Three players average double-digit scoring, led by Reagan Maricle’s 13.3 points per game average. Meghan Cross averages 13.1 points per game and Brooke Richard is averaging 10.4 points per game.
Cross leads LSU Eunice in rebounding, averaging 7.4 rebounds per contest, while Maricle is averaging 5.8 assists per game.
Against Delgado, LSU Eunice led throughout, leading by as many as 22 points, and finishing the night shooting 44 percent (28-for-63) from the floor, 46 percent (5-11) from three-point range and 52 percent (12-23) from the free throw stripe.
Sophomore Brooke Richard finished with a game-high 20 points in the win, adding five assists and four rebounds. Fellow sophomore Reagan Maricle notched 18 points of her own, adding nine assists and seven rebounds.
Meghan Cross tallied 10 of her 11 points in the first half, while she grabbed eight rebounds, and Taylor Maricle scored 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers, adding nine rebounds and six assists.
Freshman Taylor Holzmeier came off the bench to chip in nine points and eight rebounds, sophomore Baylie Lee tallied four points and five rebounds, and freshman Misha Mouton added a single point to round out the Lady Bengal scoring.