Lady Coyotes take title

Dec. 19—ELIDA — Senior Faith Jasso poured in a season-best 29 points and reached a personal milestone on Saturday night as Dora claimed the girls championship in Elida's Clearway Energy Invitational with a 64-39 thumping of Reserve.

Jasso had 971 points coming into the contest and her outing left her at exactly 1,000 for her prep career. Sophomore Dakota Jones added 19 points and senior Bre'Ann Rodriguez 11 for the Lady Coyotes (5-3).

Sophomore Delicia Delgado led the Lady Mountaineers (3-1) with 22 points, including 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

Elida 39, Floyd 13 (seventh place) — Freshman Kembri Nelson scored 10 points for the Lady Tigers (7-5), who outscored Floyd 25-8 in the second half to pull away. Junior Nevaeha Brown had seven points for the Lady Broncos (0-6).

In other final-round girls games on Saturday, Ruidoso defeated Bosque 38-17 for third place, and the Hobbs junior varsity won over Hagerman 56-27 for fifth.

In boys action at Elida:

Hobbs JV 63, Elida 30 (championship) — The Eagles broke open a relatively close game with a 22-4 run in the third quarter against the Tigers (3-7). Juniors Hardy Fraze and Dylan Dobbins led Elida with eight and six points, respectively.

Dora 61, Reserve 25 (fifth place) — Junior Aaron Combs led three Coyotes in double figures with 15 points and Dora (6-2) sprinted out to a 25-9 halftime lead over the Mountaineers. Senior Cole Kircher added 13 points and junior Roddy Neal 10.

For Reserve (1-7), senior C.J. Marshall provided 20 points.

Floyd 54, Elida JV 15 (seventh place) — Seniors Benton Cain and Isaias Nieto tallied 13 points each for the Broncos (2-4), who led 15-4 at the quarter and never looked back.

Sophomore Issak Bustamante chipped n 11 points and senior Drew Essary nine for Floyd. Freshman Hayden Wolf had seven points for Elida JV.

In the third-place game, Albuquerque-based Evangel Christian defeated Petersburg, Texas 65-34.

Also on Saturday for the boys:

Citizens Bank tournament (Texico) — Defending champion Magdalena took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by junior Ayden Hershbach with just under 6 1/2 minutes left, then converted 12-of-18 free throws down the stretch to beat Farwell 47-36 in the championship tilt.

Hershbach finished with 12 points for Magdalena (7-0). Senior Corey Stancell had a pair of 3-pointers and 13 points for Farwell (7-5), while sophomore Hudson Agee added 12.

Texico 70, Tohatchi 65 (third place) — Senior Blake Curtis had 19 points and the homestanding Wolverines outlasted the Cougars down the stretch in a tight game most of the way.

Freshman Jett Curtis, Blake's brother, and junior Alex Fuentes each scored 14 points for Texico (6-4). The Cougars (4-4) put four men in double digits — junior Kyle Yazzie with 17, senior Talan Long with 16 and juniors Josh Daws with 12 and Adriano Begay with 11.

In other final-round matchups, Tatum drilled Tularosa 55-34 for fifth place while Tucumcari took seventh with a 61-38 pounding of Tatum.

Melrose 82, Socorro 37 — All 10 Buffaloes players scored as Melrose (6-0) captured its bracket in the Pinto Invitational at Moriarty, which had to be adjusted due to weather issues on Thursday.

Junior Brayden Eldridge led four players in double figures for the Buffs, ranked third in Class 1A by MaxPreps, with 15 points. Meantime, juniors Josiah Roybal and Cy Draper added 13 and 12, respectively, and sophomore Max Sena scored 11.

For the Warriors (1-2), senior Jacob Robinson tallied 11 points.

Clovis Christian 60, Cloudcroft 48 — The Eagles claimed third place in Cloudcroft's Mountain Top Classic, getting 20 points each from seniors Noah McKay — including six first-half 3s — and Jaden Martinez to improve to 6-5 for the season.

The Bears (3-4) were led by 25 points from sophomore Hoyt Condito.

Grady 62, Roy/Mosquero 41 — At Grady, the Bronchos led 10-5 at the quarter and steadily pulled away behind a 25-point outing from freshman Zander Ciancio. Senior Zane Rush added 21.

For the Blue (3-5), junior Ayden Clavel netted 16 points, sophomore Ike Smith 12 and freshman Ethan Hazen 10.

In other girls tilts on Saturday:

Texico 47, Newcomb 36 — Leading by two, the Lady Wolverines outscored Newcomb (3-3) 13-0 over the first five minutes of the second quarter, then opened a 41-19 lead with just over two minutes left in the third frame in the fifth-place game of the Citizens Bank meet.

Junior Desiree Holman tallied nine of her game-high 14 points in the first half for Texico (3-6), while seniors Kaya New and Cadence Smith had 10 and eight, respectively. Senior Michaela Roanhorse led Newcomb (3-3) with 12 points.

Tohatchi (8-1), ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, posted a 57-31 victory over Magdalena (6-1), which is third in Class 1A, in the girls championship tilt. Also, Tatum beat Tularosa 55-34 for third place and Estancia topped Jal 54-35 for seventh.

Roy/Mosquero 60, Grady 41 — At Grady, the undefeated Lady Blue (8-0), ranked No. 1 in Class 1A by MaxPreps, opened 41-21 halftime lead with a 23-point second quarter.

Junior Sylviana Baca led four players in double figures for Roy/Mosquero with 13 points, while junior Sylvania Baca scored all of her 11 points in the first half. Freshman Taylor Proffitt also had 11 points and senior Arantza Covarrubias tossed in 10.

Meantime, junior Juanita Ramirez led all scorers with 24 points for Grady (5-3).

Melrose 57, East Mountain 7 — At Moriarty, Melrose overwhelmed the Lady Timberwolves 43-0 at halftime to take third place in their bracket of the Pinto Invitational.

Senior Graci Odom tallied 14 points for the Lady Buffs (5-1), ranked fifth by MaxPreps in 1A, while sophomore Skyla Walker had 11 points and senior Karlee Elliott 10. For East Mountain (1-3), freshman Genesis Navarro posted three points.