The Roadrunners worked their way through three days at the Round Valley Roundball tournament and found themselves in the championship game vs a tall and talented Payson team. Despite being outsized at nearly every position on the floor Holbrook played evenly with the Longhorns until the final eight minutes where they were outscored by 4 points resulting in a 50-47 Payson win. The Birds did have a final shot at the buzzer for the tie but came up a little short.
Holbrook started the tournament on Thursday, picking up easy wins over Morenci 60-33, and Valley Sanders 57-44. Travis Bia led the way in the Morenci game with 22 points, consistently scoring in each quarter. Amare Nelson also reached double figures with 11.
Bia again led the charge vs Sanders netting 17 points. Tyler Woody finished with 10.
Holbrook opened bracket play on Friday morning with a 64-32 win over an overmatched St. Michael’s team. Braylon Taliman finished with 15, draining 11 of those in the first eight minutes. Bia again reached double figures with 14, all but four coming in the first half.
That win advanced the team into the quarterfinal where they completely dominated Ganado 63-21. Nelson scored 17 of his game high 20 points in the first half. Jah Castille scored all 15 of his points in the second half, and Bia netted 12 points all in the first half.
Holbrook’s first real challenge of the tournament came Saturday morning in a match up with a physical Pima team. The Roughriders led after the first quarter 16-12, with Bia scoring 6 of the 12 for Holbrook.
The Roadrunners fought back in the second, tying the game at 34 apiece at the half behind 8 points from Manny Rico, and a pair of treys by Brady Becenti.
Holbrook edged in front by 6 in the third with their defense, limiting Pima to just 6 in the frame. Nelson matched that total by himself in the quarter.
Pima fought back in the fourth trimming all but 3 points off Holbrook’s lead but the Birds were able to hang on and advance to the title game with a 55-52 win. Bia led the way with 16 points. Nelson, and Rico each scored 13.
In the championship game Holbrook started quickly against the taller Longhorns with Becenti draining two treys, and Bia adding 5 helping Holbrook to a 17-12 first quarter lead.
Holbrook managed just two field goals in the second, but made 5 of 6 free throws, plus held Payson to just 5 points, giving the Birds a 26-17 half court advantage.
The third quarter belonged to Payson. They held Holbrook to just 3 points in the quarter, while netting 11 of their own to pull within a single point going into the final frame.
In the fourth, Holbrook scored well with 18 points, including 6 from Bia, but Payson heated up from distance canning three treys then held off a late rally by the Birds to win the game by three. Holbrook was paced by Bia’s 14.
The Roadrunners played aggressively getting to the free throw line 18 times where they kept themselves in the game, making 15 of them. Payson only went to the line 7 times making 5. The Longhorns made nine treys, while Holbrook finished with four.
Prior to the tournament Holbrook hosted Chinle in a wild regular season game at Munoz Gym on Monday. Playing in a packed house Holbrook led 14-12 after the first eight minutes. Bracy Becenti scored 7, and Bia had 6.
The Birds extended their lead in the second behind two more triples from Becenti, and four each from Woody and Bia grabbing a 30-20 halftime lead.
That lead grew to 20 points by the end of the third. Nelson scored 6 and Taliman netted 10 in the third quarter sparking the surge.
The fourth quarter was a different matter. Chinle netted 26 points in the quarter, while holding the Birds to just 7. The Wildcats had a final shot at the buzzer to tie the game, which looked good but bounced out of the rim preserving Holbrook’s 56-53 win.
Becenti led the way with 16 points. Taliman added 12; Bia, 11; Nelson, 6; Manny Guerrero, 4; Woody, 4; and Rico scored 3.
Holbrook’s overall record now stands at 11-5, and they are 5-1 in regular season action. They have one final game left before entering the holiday break. Thursday they will travel to face the Lobos in Snowflake in a boys-only contest. Their next game after the break will be on Jan. 6, when they travel to Winslow. On Jan. 8, they host Monument Valley, and Jan. 9, Snowflake makes the return trip to Holbrook.
