Hosting Winslow on Friday night in front of a packed house the Roadrunners battled but eventually succumbed to Winslow in a hard fought 57-48 home court loss.
Both teams came into the game ranked inside the top 10 in the 3A rankings and early on it looked like Holbrook would have the upper hand. The Birds raced out to a 9-0 lead before Winslow chipped away late in the first. Holbrook’s Anthony Nelson hit two treys in the opening eight minutes, and Ethan Begay added five points.
Winslow began to turn the tables in the second quarter. Tyrell Young canned five and hit the first of his four treys before the half. Dustin Richard and Zachary Wagner both netted seven helping Winslow take a 31-27 halftime edge.
Eric Baldonado and Nelson both scored five in the third but the Bulldogs added two points to their cushion. In the fourth the Bulldogs used eight points from Young to pull away and secure the win.
Holbrook was led in scoring by Ethan Begay who finished with a season high 17 points. Nelson added 15; Baldonado, 11; and Damien Clark added 5. Holbrook made nine of 16 free throws and connected on five three-point field goals.
Winslow was led by Young with 18; Wagner added 15; Richard, 13; Noah Brown, 4; Zane Corum, 3; Roy Billips, 3; and Josiah Montgomery helped with one. The Bulldogs hit seven of nine charity tosses and found the range eight times from behind the arc.
With the loss Holbrook dropped to 15-6 overall and 8-3 in regular season contests. After playing at another top 10 team in Snowflake on Tuesday night Holbrook will make a short trip to Valley Sanders to face the Pirates on Saturday. Next Tuesday Holbrook will welcome in Show Low.
Winslow improved to 16-5 overall and they are now 8-2 in regular season games.
