THURSDAY PREPS: Lady Buffs win defensive dual against Texico

MELROSE – Melrose’s girls survived a scoreless second quarter on Thursday night and posted a 29-21 victory over the Texico Lady Wolverines.

Senior Karlee Elliott paced the Lady Buffs (15-2), ranked third in Class 1A, with 17 points. Melrose’s only losses this season are to Class 5A Roswell High and to Class 2A No. 1 Tatum.

Meantime, the defending 2A champion Lady Wolverines (6-11) are almost exactly where they were last year, when they won 11 of 12 after a 6-12 state and took the 2A state crown as a No. 7 seed.

Seniors Kaya New and Sonia Ortiz topped Texico with four points apiece.

In other girls action on Thursday:

Grady 63, San Jon 45 – Senior December Garza rattled home 28 points to lift the Lady Bronchos to a road win.

Senior Taylor Foote added 13 points and junior Juanita Ramirez 11 for Grady (7-6), which led 34-13 at halftime.

For the Lady Coyotes (2-7), senior Sarah Archuleta scored 15 points and sophomore Alexa Bacerra had 13. Both players had three 3-pointers.

Dora 59, Lake Arthur 7 – At Lake Arthur, senior Bre’Ann Rodriguez scored a personal-best 15 points and the Lady Coyotes blanked the host Lady Panthers in two of the four quarters.

Freshman Karen Inge notched 14 points and junior Justice Deason 12 for Dora (10-5).

In Thursday boys tilts:

Melrose 65, Texico 53 – The homestanding Buffaloes, ranked No. 2 by MaxPreps in Class 1A behind District 6-1A rival Logan, built a 16-point, third-quarter advantage and went on to the victory.

Junior Cy Draper paced the Buffs (16-1) with a season-best 17 points, while juniors Brayden Eldridge and Chance Brittenum added 15 and 13, respectively.

For the Wolverines (8-10), freshman Jett Curtis notched 10 points.

Dora 65, Lake Arthur 13 – At Lake Arthur, the Coyotes (10-6) overwhelmed the Panthers, holding them to two points or less in three of the four stanzas.

Freshman Carson Kircher led four players in double digits for Dora with 20 points. Junior Roddy Neal added 12 while junior Mason Christensen and senior Cole posted 10 apiece.

Grady 73, San Jon 4 – All 10 players in uniform scored – including six with at least five points – in an easy win for the Bronchos (7-6).

Senior Zane Rush had a field day against the Coyotes (0-9) with 27 points, all in the first three segments. San Jon managed only one field goal – by sophomore Truitt Sallee in the first quarter.

Sallee had three of the Coyotes’ four points.