Franklin, Coronado represent El Paso with victories over Las Cruces schools

The Franklin and Coronado boys basketball teams claimed victories for El Paso Tuesday night in showdowns against teams from Las Cruces.

Franklin defeated Centennial at home by a final of 58-46 to improve to 4-3 on the season. The contest marked Centennial’s first game of the season.

Prince Roper scored 12 points for the Cougars while Roman Garcia added 11 of his own in a winning effort.

Also on the west side, Coronado managed to hold off Mayfield for a 69-58 victory to improve their record to 4-5 this year. Mayfield was also playing its first game of the year.

The Thunderbirds held an eight-point lead after pouring in 24 points in the first quarter.

But Mayfield star and Southern Miss commit Jorell Saterfield pushed the T-Birds in the second quarter, knocking down shot after shot to keep his team in the game.

But the Thunderbirds were able to hold off the charge to claim the win thanks in large part to a team-high 20 points from Cole Randel and 18 more from Ayaan Sohail.

Both Franklin and Coronado have showdowns against a very talented Las Cruces High School team to look forward to in the coming days.

The Cougars are slated to play the Bulldawgs on Friday, Nov. 30 while the Thunderbirds will meet Las Cruces on Dec. 4.

Las Cruces opened its 2018-19 campaign with a thorough 95-37 win against Santa Teresa Tuesday evening.