Lady Cats clip Pine Prairie

The District 4-3A basketball game between the Eunice High Lady Bobcats and the Pine Prairie High Lady Panthers came down to the final minute and the ability to make free throws.
The Lady Bobcats trailed 47-45 with 35 seconds left on the clock and Pine Prairie’s Tori Bordelon at the free throw line. Bordelon missed both of her attempts, keeping it a one possession game for the Lady Cats.
Senior Shay Vigers boldly attacked the Lady Panthers defense as she threw up a shot with 22 seconds left and was fouled on the play. Vigers went to the line and sank both free throws to tie the game at 47-47.
The Lady Panthers in-bounded the basketball and tried to move it up the court, but the Lady Cats trapped the ball handler and forced a turnover with 16 seconds left on the clock. Eunice High freshman guard Aisha Ledet was fouled and went to the free throw line with 12 seconds left. Ledet didn’t let the pressure of a tied game affect as she hit both free throws to give her team a 49-47 lead.
The Lady Panthers turned the ball over following the free throw and fouled Ledet with one second left in the game. Ledet missed both shots, but the game ended when her second shot bounced off the rim.
“We had some clutch free throw shooting late in the game to seal the victory”, commented Lady Bobcat head coach Wayne Fontenot.
“We had a lot of adversity to overcome and emotions got the best of us at times, but we finished with the win and that’s what counts.”
The Lady Bobcats jumped to an early lead as Shania Malveaux and Stacie White scored seven and five points, respectively, to go on top by a 10-0 margin with 3:47 left in the first quarter. But the Lady Panthers would bounce back to outscore the Lady Cats by a 9-3 margin to make it a 13-9 game at the end of the quarter.
Eunice High would take advantage of trips to the free throw line in the second quarter to jump ahead by a 21-11 margin with just under four minutes to play. But the tenacious Lady Panthers fought back to cut the lead to 26-21 at the half. The Lady Cats hit ten of 16 free throws during the quarter.
The Lady Panthers got their turn at the free throw line in the third quarter, hitting eight of 12 from the charity line. But the Lady Bobcats would hold on to the lead thanks to three field goals by Madison Guillory. The Cats entered the fourth quarter with a 38-31 lead.
Pine Prairie started to cut into the Eunice lead, eventually getting to within three points at 44-41 with just under five minutes to play and tying the game at 45-45 at the 2:41 mark on a field goal by Lacy Foreman. With 1:36 left on the clock, a field goal by Taylor Deville put the Lady Panthers ahead by a 47-45 margin. That set up the wild final minute of play.
Bordelon topped Pine Prairie in scoring for the game with 10 points. Sarah Vidrine and Kayla Lazard added eight points apiece for the Lady Panthers.
Malveaux scored 14 points to lead the Lady Bobcats for the game. White and Mia Lejeune contributed nine seven points, respectively for the Lady Cats. Vigers finished with five points and Ledet finished with four points.
The Lady Bobcats, 9-9 overall and 2-0 in district play, will travel to face Ville Platte High on Friday.