Fort Sumner senior post Nekoda Fuchs gets inside freshman Dylan Privett of Dora during Saturday’s Class 1A boys first-round state tournament game at Fort Sumner. The Foxes advanced with a 67-48 victory.

Fort Sumner senior Caleb West drives the baseline during Saturday’s Class 1A boys first-round state tournament game at Fort Sumner. The fourth-seeded Foxes advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinals at Bernalillo with a 67-48 victory.

Fort Sumner junior Kolter West shoots from the corner during Saturday’s Class 1A boys first-round state tournament game against Dora. West scored 18 points as the Foxes won 67-48.

FORT SUMNER — Fort Sumner bounced out to a 13-0 lead, saw Dora pull even midway through the second quarter and then pulled away from there for a 67-48 win over the Coyotes in a Class 1A boys first-round state tournament game on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Foxes (17-9) advance to a 3 p.m. quarterfinal game on Wednesday against fifth-seeded Jal at Bernalillo High School.

Junior guard Skylar McMath scored a season-high 21 points for Fort Sumner, including 9of-11 at the free throw line. Junior guard Kolter West added 18.

Junior Colton Gruis had four 3-pointers and 18 points for the Coyotes (15-13). His 3-pointer broke the ice for Dora with 2:45 left in the opening quarter, and two free throws by freshman Dylan Privett tied the game 20-20 with 3:42 left in the half.

Fort Sumner went on a 9-2 run the rest of the half, then pulled away when West scored nine consecutive points for a 44-27 lead late in th third quarter.

“They hit that 3 to end their scoreless streak,” Foxes coach John Wootton said. “We were in a little bit of a panic (when the Coyotes came back), but we made a little run at the end of the half and got our confidence back.

“I was very pleased with our defense in the second half. We kept them off-balance.”

Mesilla Valley 63, Texico 48 — At Las Cruces, the fifth-seeded Sonblazers outscored Texico 17-1 over the final six minutes to advance to the Class 2A quarterfinals.

Mesilla Valley (18-12) erased a three-point deficit by outscoring the Wolverines 21-3 in the final quarter. Consecutive 3-pointers by Connor Wagner and Trey Correa put the Sonblazers in front for good 52-47 and Texico never recovered.

“We played awfully well, as well as we have all year, for three quarters and about two minutes,” Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. “We just couldn’t answer that run.”

Senior center Sean Harris finished with 23 points for Mesilla Valley, while Correa had three of the team’s six 3-pointers and ended up with 16 points.

Senior Lucas Walthers led Texico (14-14) with 24 points and senior Garrett Foote added 10.