Holbrook played well but fell to visiting Ganado on Tuesday last week by 4 points. The Hornets jumped out quickly with an 18-10 first-quarter lead. Holbrook freshman Channing Harrington netted 6 of the 10 for Holbrook. In the second, senior Alayna Yazzie netted 6 but the Hornets extended their lead to 32-20 at the half.
Holbrook played much better in the second half. They outscored Ganado 17-14 in the third behind a balanced attack. Yazzie added 6 to her total, Bailey Williams netted 5 and Deya Guerrero nailed a trey in the quarter. In the fourth, Holbrook made a run late cutting the lead to 3 points in the final minutes. Guerrero hit another 3, and classmate Yazzie added 5 more points. Eventually, Ganado was able to hit a final free throw putting the game out of reach with a 54-50 outcome.
Yazzie led the team with 17 points. Harrington added 9, as did Guerrero. Williams had 5, Jordan Claw 4, Angelica Uranga 4, and Lanaya Tsosie helped with 2. Holbrook made four treys and went 12 for 14 at the line.
The Hornets were led by Faith James’s 21-point effort. They made two treys and went 8 for 12 at the line.
Coach Greg Perkins noted, “Overall, I felt we played well. We started a little slow and they jumped on us early. Alayna played possibly the best game of her career thus far. She needs to do that every game now. I know she is capable. I felt after that initial first quarter we relaxed and played better. We had fewer turnovers and outrebounded them which are generally good indicators for a win. However, we really struggled shooting the ball which was the difference. We shot just 28% for the game and only 14% from the arc. Both those numbers have to pick up quickly for us to win games. We took the ball inside more this game but just didn’t get the points out of it. This team plays hard, they get along, and they are fun to coach. Despite now being 1-2 I still like where this team is early on. We need to get rid of this lingering illness that continues to go through the girls, but we will be ok at some point,” he stated.
Holbrook is now 1-2 and will play in St. Johns on Tuesday night. They will then have a week to prepare for a trip to face a very good Wildcat team in Chinle on Dec. 10.
