The Lady Roadrunners went 3-1 at the Epic Tourney New Years’ Classic held in Chandler the last week of December. The team has struggled prior to Christmas, but with several practices now under their belts they played much better at the tournament. Holbrook opened the tournament on Dec. 28 with a big 56-28 win over Casa Grande. Nikol Gombos netted eight points in the first quarter sparking the team to a 16-2 lead. In the second, Raelle Yazzie, Alayna Yazzie and Deya Guerrero each connected from three-point land helping the team to a 31-11 halftime lead. Alayna Yazzie netted six in the third and Nohead Aberle added five to her total in the fourth of the win. Alayna Yazzie led the team in scoring with 11. Guerrero and Aberle both had 10; Gombos, 8; Raelle Yazzie, 7; Alexis Gene, 4; and Lei Smith, Sara Billy, and Holly Casamero each had two. Early the following morning, the Ladies met up with Coolidge and played well despite facing a much bigger team in a physical game. The Bears led 13-7 after one, but Holbrook battled back to tie the game at the half 17-17. Gombos scored five in the second. In the third Guerrero hit a pair of treys and Aberle added five keeping the game within one point headed into the final period. Both teams scored well down the stretch but Coolidge eventually held off Holbrook 46-43. Aberle led Holbrook in scoring with 12. Guerrero added 11; Raelle Yazzie, 10; Gombos, 5; and Alayna Yazzie hit for 5. That evening Holbrook met up with Marana Mountain View and again played well. The Birds led 12-6 after the first and 30-19 at the half. Guerrero netted 14 in the first half. Holbrook outscored the Lions 24-13 in the second half to win the game 54-32. Guerrero led the way in scoring with 14; Aberle added 10; Alayna Yazzie, 8; Kim Billie, 6; Raelle Yazzie, 4; Gene, 4; Gombos, 4; and Casamero helped with 4. Holbrook’s final tournament game was a two-point win over Leading Edge Gilbert. Holbrook started slowly and trailed 14-7 after the first eight minutes. In the second, they flipped that score with five different players scoring to tie the game at 21-21 at the half. Holbrook edged in front by two in the third behind a strong period from Aberle who netted seven in the period. Holbrook had a six-point lead with two minutes left in the game but with just six seconds left on the clock they led by two. Leading Edge nearly tied the game on a contested layup but Holbrook was able to hang on and secure the 47-45 win. “Overall, I feel we made a lot of progress in this tournament. We are scoring better and more of the girls are beginning to get on the same page on offense and defense. Now with 14 games behind us, it is time to put things together through January and February. We have put ourselves in a hole power point wise, and will need to get five or six wins to earn a trip to the state tournament. I think the girls will be up to the challenge, but we will see what happens. The east region is much improved this year with Show Low and Payson both playing well. Winslow always plays at a high level. Blue Ridge is a bit of an unknown although they have a huge win over Chinle. Snowflake is like us. They are in a hole they have to get out of. It should be an interesting next four of five weeks,” stated Coach Greg Perkins. Holbrook is currently 5-9 overall and 0-5 in regular season games.
