Thursday EPAC roundup

MELROSE - Dora's boys basketball team was not without its chances to climb back into Thursday night's EPAC Tournament quarterfinal at Melrose High School.

Those chances, though, lessened with each offensive rebound Fort Sumner grabbed, which happened repeatedly in Thursday's second half.

The Coyotes gave defending 2A state champ Fort Sumner too many second-chance baskets, squelching their comeback attempts and leading to a 66-49 win for the Foxes.

Fort Sumner's offensive rebounding not only ruined a trip to the EPAC semifinals for Dora, it overshadowed how well they had played overall across the final two quarters.

"I thought our second half was probably about our best half of the year," Dora head coach John Wootten said after Thursday's game. "I mean, we didn't block out which was a concern and we've got to work on that. But we took care of the ball a lot better in the second half, and we had a lot better offense in the second half."

Dora fell far into an early hole, trailing 17-3 in the first quarter. The Coyotes' Hunter Jones then completed a three-point play at the line to make it an 11-point game, but Fort Sumner stretched to a 22-8 lead by quarter's end and 35-17 by halftime.

Fort Sumner went up 45-25 early in the third quarter after a Cory Terrell three, but Dora's Joe Urioste answered quickly with a trey of his own, and a Fort Sumner miss on the other end seemed to indicate that the Coyotes would be getting a chance to close the gap even further.

But, oh those pesky Fort Sumner offensive boards. The Foxes' Peyton Lewis scored off one of them to make it a 47-28 game.

Still, Dora was able to close to 47-34 by the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth it was more of the same, though, with Dora not capitalizing on its chances after Fort Sumner misses. At one point early in the quarter, it was 49-34 and the Foxes missed a shot, but Alex Moyer scored off an offensive rebound to make it a 17-point game and Dora could never get back into it.

Haiden Padgett wound up leading the Coyotes with 13 points, followed by Trenton Paxton with 11.

Terrell led all scorers with 17 points. Noah Maxwell contributed 16 points for the Foxes, and Jude Segura added 12.

Overall, the Coyotes looked to learn from the tournament as they prepared to return to their regular slate for a run at the state playoffs.

"Hopefully we grow a lot," Wootten said. "Sometimes it's hard to tell. Sometimes we think we're headed in the right direction and the next thing, the wheels come off."

Elida 58, Vaughn 44 - The Tigers outscored Vaughn 22-14 in the second quarter and 19-8 in the fourth, as they rallied for a victory Thursday night.

Elida had trailed 14-11 after the first quarter and clung to a 39-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter before pulling away in that period.

Elida's Teagan Burton led all scorers with 17 points. Teammates Tyce Delk (13 points) and Cris Diaz (12) joined Burton in double figures.

Morgan Berumen paced Vaughn with 13 points, followed by David Sanchez with 11.

Floyd 53, Tatum 35 - The Broncos led by a modest 16-14 count at halftime, but outscored Tatum 37-21 in the second half and rolled to victory Thursday.

Floyd's Weston Whitecotton led all scorers with 15 points. He was followed by teammates Patrick Terry with 14 points and John McDonald with 12.

Sebastian Jimenez led Tatum with 11 points.

Girls

Texico 58, Portales JV 12 - Portales' JV was on a roll, or so it seemed.

The Lady Rams had knocked off Grady in Wednesday's first-round action and were looking for more in Thursday's quarterfinals.

But, their opponent in those quarters was defending tournament champ Texico. And the Lady Wolverines were primed and ready, playing their first tournament game after getting a bye from Wednesday's opening night.

The results then, based on all that the Lady Wolves were bringing into Thursday night's matchup, were not terribly surprising as they rolled to the first of three victories needed for a fourth straight EPAC title.

In the first quarter, Texico went ahead 12-3 on a driving shot by Baylee Sours. When Portales' Adrianna Garcia answered quickly with a basket, it was 12-5 and the Lady Rams had hope perhaps.

But, Texico closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to make it 20-7, took its first 20-point lead of the night on another Sours basket, and led 40-10 by halftime. A wide-open Riley Thompson jumper began the third-quarter scoring and kept things going in the Lady Wolves' direction. The wound up shutting out Portales 8-0 in the period and continued rolling to victory in the fourth quarter.

Texico's Ashley Hill led all scorers with 21 points, eight of which came in the second quarter. Sours added 17 for the Lady Wolverines.

Fort Sumner 55, Grady 16 - Rae anne Williamson poured in 22 points, leading defending 2A state champ Fort Sumner past Grady big on Thursday.

Fort Sumner led just 11-7 after one quarter, but pulled away in the second by outscoring Grady 22-4 in that period.