Dora rallies to top Monte del Sol, 59-57

The Monte del Sol Dragons looked like they were on their way to a convincing win Thursday night.

The Dora Coyotes wouldn’t cooperate, however. They outscored Monte del Sol 37-22 in the second half to squeeze out a 59-57 nondistrict boys basketball win in Christian Life Academy.

The Dragons (12-7) held the Coyotes to just seven points in the second quarter as they built a 35-22 lead at the half, but Dora used a 22-14 scoring advantage in the third to get within 49-44 heading into the fourth. The tables were turned on Monte del Sol, as they managed just eight points over the final eight minutes as the Coyotes (13-6) completed their comeback.

“I’m proud of the way the boys played,” Dragons head coach Alfredo Lujan wrote in a text. “We squandered a lead, but we had many good moments that gave us positive energy.”

Peter Lujan led Monte del Sol with 19 points, while Santi Archuleta added 15 and Carlos Ruvalcaba 10. Dora’s Slade Hamann led the rally with 22 points and Xavier Gramzow had 20.

Monte del Sol begins District 2-3A play on Saturday with a road trip to Dulce.

PECOS 91, DESERT ACADEMY 13

The Panthers didn’t press but still held the Wildcats to just two points in the opening quarter of a 3-3A game at Milagro Middle School, and took a 54-6 lead into the locker room at halftime. Pecos senior Michael Montaño had a season-best 22 points, and Isaac Gonzales added 21 as the reserves saw much of the playing time.

Ismael Villegas scored 16 points for Pecos (15-3 overall, 3-0), while Sebastian Gomez and Devin Gonzales each had 12.

Damian Browne led the Wildcats (0-14, 0-2) with five points.

GIRLS DORA 74, MONTE DEL SOL 30

The Lady Coyotes outscored the Lady Dragons 15-4 in the second quarter to turn a 16-13 lead into a 31-17 advantage at the half of a nondistrict game in Christian Life Academy.

Then the bottom fell out as Dora (13-6) used a 28-5 scoring run in the third to put the game away.

“At first, we started off nice,” Monte del Sol head coach Ray Roybal said. “We were running with them. Then they picked up a different press and we struggled to break it. We started our ugly turnovers; the turnover bug just bit us.”

Alejandra Castillo led the Lady Dragons (1-11) with 20 points and Victoria Alarcon added six. Roybal also said that Sonya Castillo, Alejandra’s eighth-grade sister, was strong on the glass and grabbed several rebounds.

Monte del Sol heads to Dulce to open 3-3A play on Saturday.

ACADEMY FOR TECHNOLOGY AND THE CLASSICS 38, SANTA FE PREP 21

The Phoenix held the Blue Griffins to just one point in the second and third quarters, which helped them turn a 13-6 first-quarter deficit into a 24-14 lead heading into the fourth of a nondistrict game at Nina Otero Community School.

Ashley Zapata led ATC (7-11) with 17 points, Felicity Sealy had 15 and Valeria Cera scored six.

Prep fell to 0-9 on the season.