After beating Winslow in their first meeting this season, the Lady Roadrunners of Holbrook struggled from the field and fell to the Lady Bulldogs in Winslow last Friday night. The 51-29 win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Winslow, and put the Lady Bulldogs in a position where they will most likely host Holbrook in the first round of the state tournament next week. Holbrook started well enough, matching buckets with Winslow midway through the first period. With the score knotted at 6-6 the Lady Bulldogs went on a 8-0 run only to see Holbrook come back late in the first and early in the second to trail just 14-11. From that point on, Holbrook really struggled to score. The Lady Birds shot just 19 percent from the field throughout the game and from the second quarter on their percentage was even less than that. Coupled that with Winslow’s outworking Holbrook on the boards and the Lady Bulldogs held a 31-13 halftime lead. In the second half both teams played fairly evenly. Winslow’s first half cushion was just too much to overcome, especially with a poor shooting night from Holbrook. Holbrook was led in scoring by Shantina Kinlicheenie with 9 points. Nyomi Yazzie added 7, Aaren Billie, 6, Kellin Bakurza, 4, Col’bi Nez 2, and Kaynasa Curley, 1. The Lady Roadrunners made three treys and went eight for 13 at the charity stripe. Winslow was led by Gabby Stacey with 15 points and Felencia Keams added 11. The Lady Bulldogs also made three treys and went 12 for 20 at the charity stripe. “We started out well enough, but we got into some serious foul trouble and had to sit four of our regular starters for much of the second quarter. Our bench players, who have really played well in the second half of the season, struggled offensively and Winslow made a nice run midway through the second to build an 18-point lead,” said Coach Greg Perkins. “I tried to take some air out of the game and keep our team within reach late in the second period, which was probably a mistake, but I felt that if we could keep it close we would have a chance in the second half. I didn’t know we would continue to shoot as poorly as we did. The girls played hard and the effort was there, but Winslow wanted this win more than we did and they played like a team that needed to end a seven-game skid. “Now it looks like there is a good chance we will be headed back there next week for the first round of the state tournament. These are two teams which know each other very well; a third game will be really interesting. Hopefully, we will shoot the ball better and we have to do a much better job keeping them off the glass. It is unfortunate that two good teams will face off in the first round, but that is life in the 3A North Region. Last year the only teams to defeat a North Region team in the state playoffs were other North Region teams, and this year we could see much the same thing.” Holbrook 9 2 7 11 29 Winslow 14 15 11 11 51 Holbrook wrapped up the regular season with an overall record of 17-10 and went 3-6 in North region play. After facing Monument Valley on Thursday in the first round of the North Region tournament, the Lady Birds will either play on Friday and Saturday with a win, or a loss will give them more than a week to prepare for their rubber game with Winslow on Friday, Feb. 18. Either way the Lady Roadrunners have already qualified for the state tournament. “What the girls have done so far this season just shows how our program is building. We lost eight seniors last year, but still have come back with a higher overall seed in the state tournament, and this year we don’t have to depend on placing third at the region tournament to make state. Obviously, we would like to get three more games in at the region tournament, especially playing in front of big crowds, which will help us prepare for big games in the future. The North Region is tough, but it is helping us become better,” concluded the coach.