Holbrook toppled the fifth ranked Lady Lobos on Tuesday night, but they didn’t lead in the ball game until the final eleven seconds. Snowflake has been playing exceptionally well since the break having not lost a game since Dec. 21. It looked like they would continue that streak for at least 31 of the 32 minutes of Tuesday night’s game. The Lobos jumped out early in the first with five players counting for 12 points. Holbrook only had two score, Madison Chappell with 7, and Matehya Aberle had 4 before sitting out the rest of the half with foul problems. In the second, more foul issues for Holbrook, plus Snowflake’s great defense, held Holbrook to just one field goal in the second as Snowflake built a six-point half time lead. “I was pleased with the way the bench played in the final three minutes of the half. I kind of figured we were headed to a double-digit deficit by the break, but the bench did well keeping us in the game down only six,” Coach Greg Perkins commented. Holbrook got 5 points from Alyssa Yazzie in the second and Aberle contributed 3 as the Birds trimmed one point off Snowflake’s lead. Kamri Ballard led the Lobo attack with four points in the third. In the final quarter Snowflake built as much as a 10-point lead before Holbrook’s pressure defense finally forced enough Lobo turnovers to make a difference. Holbrook eventually made four consecutive free throws at the end of the game, after missing 19 throughout the game to take a two-point lead. Madison Chappell’s steal and late free throws, gave Holbrook the chance they needed to finally take the lead. Snowflake had a really good look at the bucket in the final seconds to tie the game but the shot was just short allowing Holbrook to escape with a hard fought 41-39 win. “Snowflake is so improved. Joe has done a great job with them. We really hurt ourselves with 19 missed free throws, but we were able to get the job done in the end. Snowflake plays so fast, and so physical it really disrupts what we try to do and that is a credit to the job they have done this year. They are definitely worthy of a top 10 seed and will be a dangerous team in the state playoffs for anyone to face. Obviously, we didn’t play real well tonight but most of that is due to Snowflake. They did a great job,” concluded Coach Perkins. With the win, Holbrook should move up from their 14th ranking they had coming into the game. They improved to 16-5 overall and are now 7-4 in regular season contests. With the loss the fifth ranked Lobos will drop just a little in the rankings as they are now 15-4 overall and 8-3 in power point games.
