Wolverines turn back Elida

TEXICO — The Elida Tigers didn’t win Tuesday night in the EPAC tournament boys quarterfinals, but they made unbeaten host Texico work a little bit.

The Wolverines (10-0) got off to a 14-0 lead before Elida righted itself and played competitively most of the rest of the night in dropping a 64-51 decision.

Texico takes on Melrose in Friday’s second semifinal matchup at 7:45 p.m., while the Tigers (7-6) will face Logan at 8:15 p.m. today for fifth place.

“I’m really happy,” said Elida boys coach Darrell Chenault, whose 12-man roster includes 10 players from the freshman and sophomore classes. “Nobody gave us any kind of chance to play with them.”

Seniors Braden Vaughan, Logan Brown and Tony Clements combined for 40 points for the Wolverines, led by Vaughan with 15. Texico would have won more handily except for a 9-for-33 performance from the free throw line.

“It was a physical game, which is not to our liking,”Chenault said, “but that’s the way basketball goes.”

Freshman Wesley Gilmore scored 15 points for the Tigers while senior Dylan Radcliff and freshman Trenton Chenault — the coach’s son — added 11 apiece.

Texico 62, Dora 18 (girls quarterfinals) — The Lady Wolverines (8-2), who beat Dora by 19 points in an earlier meeting, ran away this time as senior Stephanie Bailey led four players in double figures with 15 points.

Texico meets Grady in a 4:30 p.m. semifinal game on Friday. The Lady Coyotes (4-6) face Melrose for fifth place at 6:30 p.m. today.

“Their pressure is a lot tougher than it was (earlier), but we didn’t handle it well,” Dora girls coach Myra Skinner said. “We had too many turnovers in the first couple of minutes that killed us.”

Junior Rana Terry led Dora with eight points.

EPAC summaries

Girls

Texico 62, Dora 18

Texico (8-2) — Stephanie Bailey 15, Lauren Boazman 14, Ashley Kidd 13, Amber Parmer 10, Lori Richardson 4, Erika Autrey 2, Skyla Cockerham 2, Faith Martin 1, Bryn Mayfield 1. Totals 27 6-9 62.

Dora (4-6) — Rana Terry 8, D’Shawn Pettigrew 4, Jena Bilberry 2, Jennifer Bolin 2, Kassandra Clark 2. Totals 8 2-10 18.

Texico 19 20 15 8 — 62

Dora 6 7 5 0 — 18

3-pointers — Dora: none. Texico (2): Bailey, Kidd.

Boys

Texico 64, Elida 51

Texico (10-0) — Issac Zarate 2, Braden Vaughan 15, Josh Pena 2, Tony Clements 11, Garett Mayfield 7, Logan Brown 14, Ricky Burns 2, John Schueler 9, Josh Murray 1, Daniel Schueler 1. Totals 26 9-33 64.

Elida (7-6) — Dylan Radcliff 11, Thomas West 8, Tom Sullivan 2, Trenton Chenault 11, Wesley Gilmore 15, Caleb Widener 4. Totals 19 10-16 51.

Texico 19 14 18 13 — 64

Elida 8 12 14 17 — 51

3-pointers — Texico (3): Clements 2, Brown. Elida (3): Chenault 2, Radcliff.

EPAC Tournament

Boys

Wednesday’s games

Game 10: Fort Sumner 55, Logan 52

Game 12: Texico 64, Elida 51

Thursday’s games

Game 15: Dora vs. Floyd, 4:45 p.m., old gym

Game 16: House vs. San Jon, 4:45 p.m, new gym

Game 18: Logan vs. Elida (5th place), 8:15 p.m., new gym

Friday’s games

Game 20: Game 15 loser vs. Game 16 loser (9th place), 12:45 p.m., new gym

Game 23: Fort Sumner vs. Grady (semifinals), 6 p.m., new gym

Game 24: Melrose vs. Texico (semi-finals), 7:45 p.m., new gym

Girls

Wednesday’s games

Game 9: Fort Sumner 45, Melrose 19

Game 11: Texico 62, Dora 18

Thursday’s games

Game 13: Logan vs. Floyd, 3:05 p.m., old gym

Game 14: House vs. San Jon, 3:05 p.m., new gym

Game 17: Melrose vs. Dora (5th place), 6:30 p.m., old gym

Friday’s games

Game 19: Game 13 loser vs. Game 14 loser, 11 a.m., new gym

Game 21: Fort Sumner vs. Grady (semifinals), 2:30 p.m.

Game 22: Elida vs. Texico (semifinals), 4:15 p.m.