The Lady Roadrunners had a disappointing start to east region play last week. Playing in Blue Ridge on Thursday night, Holbrook was outscored 13-0 to start the game and never got back into it. Then playing in Winslow on Saturday, they saw a tie game get away from them in the final three minutes.
Thursday’s game in Lakeside was a cold start for Holbrook and a hot start for the Lady Yellowjackets. Blue Ridge scored 23 first-quarter points and led by 15 heading into the second. Holbrook did get triples from Jordan Claw and Shayla Attakai, but they found themselves far behind early.
In the second the onslaught continued. Only two more field goals by Holbrook, both treys, were more than offset by 16 from the home team which led comfortably to a 39-14 at the half. Holbrook played better in the second half, outscoring Blue Ridge 24-19, but the hole was too big to climb out of with Blue Ridge winning the game 60-39.
Claw led Holbrook with 12 points, all coming from behind the arc. Attakai added 6; Deya Guerrero, 6; Channing Harrington, 4; Angelica Uranga, 4; Bailey Williams, 4; and Lanaya Tsosie helped with 2.
Holbrook went 1 for 3 from the line and made eight 3-point field goals, but only hit seven 2-point field goals. Blue Ridge hit nine of 11 charity tosses and made three treys.
Saturday afternoon’s game in Winslow was more competitive, at least early on. Holbrook started well with an opening three from Claw and had balanced scoring leading to a 15-13 first-period lead. In the second, Uranga netted 4 and Guerrero hit her only trey, but Winslow pulled in front by 29-25 at the half. Winslow converted eight of 13 free throws in the second quarter.
The third quarter was close as well with Winslow holding a 5-point lead going into the final eight minutes. In the fourth, Harrington’s 3-point field goal with just over two minutes left in the game tied the score at 46-46. From that point on Winslow held Holbrook to just 2 points, as they pulled away for the 57-48 win.
Holbrook was led by Tsosie’s 10-point effort. Bailey Williams added 9; Uranga, 7; Guerrero, 7; Harrington, 5; Claw, 4; Kyila Chee, 2; and Attakai had 2. Holbrook made nine of 14 charity tosses and hit just three treys.
Winslow was led by Taylin Puhuhefvaya’s 18 points. Emiah Yazzie added 13; Tatum Henling, 9; Kaityln Beone, 7; Keira Barton, 6; Natilyn Nez, 4; and Biinay Patterson chipped in with 1. The Bulldogs made 15 of their 24 free throws and hit two shots from downtown.
“The last two years we have dug ourselves a hole in regards to power points. In each of those cases, we worked our way out of it. This year we have once again put ourselves in a tough spot. Hopefully, this young team can get some key players back and can fight our way back. It will take a lot of work, especially on the defensive end where we struggled mightily the last two games. We need to put things together offensively as well, if not we are in for a short season,” noted Coach Greg Perkins.
With the two losses, Holbrook drops to 4 and 9 overall. They are 1-6 in regular season games, and now 0-2 in east region contests.
Holbrook will play in the Epic Tourney New Year’s Classic beginning Jan. 2. They will face Coolidge in a pool game on Thursday, then will start bracket play vs Sahuarita on Friday morning. The final game will be on Saturday the 4th. Holbrook will return to regular season play on Jan. 7, when they host Round Valley. On the 10th they travel to face Snowflake.
