Dora coasts to tourney title

DORA – The Dora Coyotes cruised to the District 4-1A boys tournament championship on Saturday night with a 56-22 rout of Gateway Christian.

Dora (20-6) outscored the Warriors 21-1 in the second quarter for a 30-point halftime lead. Ten players were in the scoring column for the Coyotes, with senior Steven Masini posting 11 points, senior Kegan Rodriguez nine and senior Bryson Paxton and junior Cole Kircher eight apiece.

Top scorer for Gateway Christian (5-18) was eighth-grader Grady Munson with eight points.

Dora earned the No. 6 seed in the Class 1A state tournament, and will host 11th-seeded Alamo Navajo (23-4) in a 6 p.m. first-round game on Saturday.

In other Saturday boys finals:

Pecos 75, Texico 59 – The Wolverines (15-12) stayed with the Class 2A top-ranked Panthers for much of the game in the District 6-2A tourney final at Pecos.

The Panthers (24-3), whose only losses have come to Class 4A and 5A opponents, put four players in double digits, led by senior Jodaiah Padilla's 17 points. Also, senior Aidan Holton added 14, junior Josh Gonzales 13 and senior Malik Barrens 11.

For Texico, senior Jahvon Askew tallied 28 points and junior Cade Figg notched 12.

Texico was seeded third in the 2A state tourney, and welcomes No. 14 Dulce (16-12) in a 6 p.m. first-round game on Saturday. The top-seeded Panthers entertain McCurdy in their first-round tilt.

Fort Sumner 82, Melrose 52 – At Fort Sumner, the Class 1A top-ranked Foxes (25-2) built a 15-point halftime lead and never looked back in the District 6-1A final.

Six players reached double digits for Fort Sumner – juniors Chance Thomson with 17, Cash Burney with 16 and Seth Saiz with 14, eighth-grader Jordan Holland with 13, and senior Clay Norman and junior Joaquin Segura with 11 apiece.

Meantime, the Buffaloes (21-6) got 14 points from sophomore Josiah Roybal, 13 from freshman Jaxon Odom, 11 from sophomore Cy Draper and 10 from junior Dathan Yeary.

Melrose is seeded third and hosts No. 14 Mesilla Valley (14-10) in a 6 p.m. opening-round game on Saturday, while the top-seeded Foxes get 16th seed To'hajiilee the same night.

Clovis Christian (17-11) earned the No. 13 seed from the NMAA, and the Eagles travel to fourth-seeded Maxwell (23-4) for their first-round game on Saturday.

Three area small-school girls teams were chosen for state competition, with round-of-16 games set for Friday. Texico (13-13) is seeded seventh in Class 2A and hosts No. 10 Mescalero (19-8), Melrose garnered the top seed in 1A and faces No. 16 Cimarron (13-11) in a 6 p.m. start and Dora (18-9) got the 12th seed in 1A and travels to No. 5 Alamo Navajo (21-6).