The Eunice Bobcats closed out their home schedule Tuesday with a 57-53 loss to Iowa.

In spite of the loss, Eunice head coach Robert Trent was proud of his team, especially his three seniors, responding from a 104-83 loss to the Yellow Jackets earlier in District 4-3A action.

“I wish we could have gotten the victory but they played hard,” Trent said. “Last game we gave them too much room and they were knocking the threes down,” he said of the Yellow Jackets. “We were going to guard them from the parking lot if we had to, trying to stop their offense.

“We put more pressure on defense and that gave us a chance to win, it just didn’t happen. They got a few bounces that went their way late in the game that proved to be the difference.”

The Bobcats were led by seniors D’aundric Johnson (22 points) and Vondray Vallare (15 points) while Damar Robinson contributed with several assists and three points.

“I wish we could have won for those guys,” Trent said. “They definitely wanted the season to finish better than it did.”

Eunice (8-14, 4-5) closed out the season against Crowley Wednesday night.

After Iowa scored in the opening seconds on a drive off the glass by Charles Roberson, the Bobcats responded to tie the game four times on baskets from Vallare, Derek Denton along with free throws by Johnson and Warren Guidry.

Johnson drove the lane with 1:31 left to push the Bobcats ahead, 10-8.

After Iowa’s Rod Poullard scored on a jumper, Vallare hit two free throws with 35 seconds left to give the Bobcats a 12-10 lead heading into the second period.

The game remained tight early in the second period as the two teams battled for control.

A three-point play by Vallare gave the Bobcats a 15-13 lead but Iowa went on a 9-2 run to grab a 22-17 advantage.

Guidry drained a trey with 3:40 left to close the gap to 22-20 but a 7-0 run by the Jackets pushed Iowa ahead 29-20.

Last second baskets from Johnson and Trenon Trosclair helped the Bobcats close the halftime gap to 29-24.

Iowa stormed out of the intermission with a 8-0 run to forge a 37-24 lead.

run to grab a 37-24 lead.

Eunice answered with a 15-5 run, led by 10 points from Johnson, a trey by Robinson and a drive from Ben Allison.

Trailing 42-39 as the game moved to the fourth period, the Bobcats pulled within a point on a putback from Vallare.

A 6-2 run gave Iowa a 48-43 lead midway through the period but Eunice pulled within a point again with four points by Johnson.

Roberson hit two free throws after a EHS technical foul as Iowa moved ahead 50-47 with 3:03 left in the game.

Hunter Bebee added a drive in the lane as the Jackets held a 52-47 margin.

Eunice rallied for a 6-2 run, sparked by two buckets from Vallare and a baseline shot by Guidry, as the Bobcats closed the gap to 54-53 with 51 seconds left.

Iowa sealed the four-point win when Harry Simon hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds.