The Lady Roadrunners returned to the court with two solid wins last week. Holbrook was able to carry over their momentum from the Chandler Prep tournament and used that to defeat Blue Ridge last Wednesday and Payson on Friday. Hosting the Yellowjackets on Wednesday, the Lady Birds drained 21 points in the first period to lead by 10. Desirae Bain and Matehya Aberle each had six in the frame. Aberle added eight to her total in the second and Jineane Cummings and Alyssa Yazzie each had four. Holbrook’s defense held the Jackets to just 10 second half points in the 67-31 win. “I felt good about the way the girls kept up their energy and defensive speed from the tournament. I thought we set the tone early with a good opening quarter and maintained our energy throughout,” stated Coach Greg Perkins. Aberle led the team in scoring with 18 points. Madison Chappell added 10; Abigayle Nez had 8, Cummings, 7; Alyssa Yazzie, 6; Bain, 6; Shondiin Ben, 5; Mika Joe, 3; Talynn Spencer, 2; and Shan Footracer hit for two. Holbrook made nine of 11 free throw attempts and connected on four three-point field goals. Blue Ridge was led by Raine Tate with seven points. They made four of eight free-throws and hit one three-point field goal. Friday night’s home game with Payson saw the Ladies start a little slow, but towards the end of the first frame they had built a four-point lead. Aberle and Chappell each scored six in the first eight minutes. Sam Billie also hit a three-point shot. In the second the Lady Birds stretched their lead out to 36-25 at the half. Cummings drained a pair of long-distance shots and Nez hit for five in the frame. The third period really put the game away. Holbrook had three-point field goals from Cummings, and Joe, along with seven more points from Aberle. Holbrook’s defense played better holding the Longhorns to just four points in the third quarter. Holbrook controlled the fourth period as well en route to a 71-40 home court win. Aberle led all scorers with 22 points. Cummings added 11; Nez, 9; Chappell, 8 points and eight steals; Bain added 6 points; Joe, 5; Billie, 3; Alyssa Yazzie, 2; Tyleashia Yazzie, 2; Footracer, 2; and Ben helped with one. “Payson came out strong early in the game and it took us a little while to catch up. I still thought we played well, we just missed some scoring opportunities on bad passes, but overall we still played hard. It is good to see Jineane contributing from the three-point line and we are moving the ball better and seeing our post players. Matehya is the recipient of most of those passes, and it showed with her 22-point effort. Madison didn’t score as much but her defense, overall hustle and ball handling really gets us going. Now we have to face them again, then get prepared for Winslow on Friday,” said Perkins. Holbrook made 17 of 28 free-throw attempts and had six three-point field goals, three by Cummings. Blue Ridge was led by Makayla Taylor with 16 points. The Jackets made three of eight free throws and hit five three-point field goals. With the two wins Holbrook improved their overall season record to 13-5. They also balanced their power point regular season game record at 4-4. Holbrook entered Friday’s game ranked 19th in power points. Friday’s win should move them up a little when the rankings come out again on Tuesday. After playing at Payson on Tuesday, Holbrook will host Winslow in front of what is expected to be a sell-out crowd on Friday. Next Tuesday Holbrook plays a very good Snowflake team.