The Lady Lobos picked up the New Year just like they left off the prior one with three consecutive wins, two of them region wins.
Playing in Alchesay on Tuesday, the Lobos may have had a bit of holiday rust in the first quarter as they trailed the Falcons 11-9. The second quarter went better, with Snowflake building a 24-15 halftime lead. The Falcons wiped that lead away in the third, outscoring Snowflake by 11 points to take a 2-point lead into the final frame. In the fourth, the Lobos regained control of the game pulling away for a hard fought 56-45 region win.
AJ Yarn led the team in scoring with 18 points. Ryah Denhalter added 8; Bryn Kupfer, 7; Ranell West, 7; Harrli Nichols, 6; Tayli Hancock, 4; Josie Clare, 4; and Aubrie Denhalter helped with 2.
Thursday night the Ladies had a laugher of a game over the struggling Safford Bulldogs. Snowflake dominated the visitors 64-7 for what may have been their easiest win of the season.
Friday night the team made the short trip north to face the Roadrunners in Holbrook. Ryah Denhalter and Clare each scored 4 in the opening eight minutes, giving the Lobos a 14-9 lead. In the second, Holbrook went cold from the field thanks in part to Snowflake’s defense and the Lobos extended their lead to 27-11 at the half.
The third quarter saw Holbrook get back into the game. Ryah Denhalter netted 4 points, but the team managed just 10 total points, while giving up 18 to Holbrook. Midway through the fourth, the Roadrunners had trimmed the margin to 3 points, before Snowflake forced a couple of turnovers, and used their transition game to race back to a double-digit lead, eventually winning the game 51-36.
Ryah Denhalter led the team with 14 points. Clare added 12; Hancock, 7; Aubrie Denhalter, 5; Kupfer, 4; West, 4; Yarn, 2; Nichols, 2; and Mary Orr added 1.
With the three wins Snowflake improved their overall season record to 18-1. They are 9-0 in regular season games and should be ranked in the top spot when the power rankings are released on Tuesday.
This week they will host Alchesay on Tuesday, then travel to face a good Valley Christian team on Wednesday. Next Tuesday they travel to Winslow.
