Dora teams sweep by Gateway Christian

The Dora Coyotes played a doubleheader against Gateway Christian Friday night, and the host Coyotes got a big lift in each.

Taylor Dillard outscored the visiting Warriors with a game-high 25 in just three quarters of the girls’ 53-24 win, while Dalton Privett had 27 points in the boys’ 66-47 victory.

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Dora senior Taylor Dillard goes up for a layup over Gateway Christian defenders during the first half of Dora’s Friday match against Gateway Christian.

Dillard started hot, with the first nine points of the game and 16 in the first half for the Lady Coyotes (7-7).

“It was good to get a big win like this especially on homecoming,” Dora coach Gabe Montoya said. “Taylor had a big game, she was aggressive from the start.”

Otherwise, the scoring was balanced for both teams. Savannah Fox scored seven to lead Gateway Christian, and no other player for either side had more than six.

Dora’s pressed worked effectively throughout the night, and the lead went as high as 30 the Coyotes stifled the Warriors (3-9), using their press defense to attack and create turnovers which led to easy buckets, especially in the third quarter when they went up by as much as 30.

Montoya emptied his bench in the fourth, and the backups held Gateway to six points in the period — though they only managed two themselves.

“We did well defensively tonight,” Montoya said. “Our rotations were good; we’re starting to communicate more and our energy has been up a lot more lately.”

In the boys game, Dora led throughout the first half, then took control with a 14-0 burst to open the third.

Dora (9-5) held Gateway without a basket for five minutes during the pivotal run.

“We had a hard time executing in the first half due to their length, but in the second half we were able to spread them out and attack the basket,” said Coyotes coach Kevin Lackey. “We were able to open it up so our guards could attack the middle of the floor.”

led throughout the first half but a small run by the Warriors (7-6) in the closing minutes of the first half gave cut their deficit to three at the half, and Tim Schultz cut the deficit to one with a quick jumper out of the break.

The Warriors (7-6), who only trailed by three at the half, didn’t get within single digits for the rest of the night after the run and had trouble with the Coyotes’ press.

“We knew coming in that they were a big team, but their guards were very young,” Lackey said. “So we tried to rattle them as much as we could and keep them from getting the ball to their bigs.”

Arzate scored 19 for the Coyotes and Nate Paredes led the Warriors with 12 points.