State tournament time is about surviving and advancing, which is what the Roadrunners did Tuesday night. Holbrook, seeded ninth in the bracket, avoided an upset bid by 24th seeded Monument Valley, outlasting the Mustangs 63-57 in overtime in front of the final packed house of the season at Muñoz Gym.

Monument Valley found out the hard way early in the game what happens when you leave Holbrook open on the perimeter when Abrian Dickson canned a trio of treys in the first period, helping the Birds to a 15-14 lead. Dickson added two more in the second, and with Marlin Martin and Miireux Begaii each dialing in from long range, Holbrook took a 30-24 lead into the halftime break.

Monument switched defenses in the second half, taking away Holbrook’s three-point shooting, and forged a two-point lead of its own heading to the fourth. In the final quarter Holbrook had one big three-point shot from Marcel Young and four points from Martin, which were just enough to tie the game with under 20 seconds left in regulation. The Mustangs tried to hold for the final shot, but a turnover with four seconds left on the clock sent the game to overtime knotted at 50-50.

In the overtime the Roadrunners grabbed the early lead, then closed the deal on Young’s driving three-point play, which gave them a four-point lead with less than a minute left. Holbrook knocked down free throws from that point on, eventually pulling away for the six-point lead to advance to the second round of the state tournament.

Martin led Holbrook with 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Dickson netted all 15 of his points in the first half. Young finished with 13, 8 of which came in overtime. Nathan Johnson scored 9; Sylas Chevarillo, 6; and Begaii, 3. Holbrook made nine treys and went 14 for 17 at the free throw line.

Monument was led by Kane Parrish with 21 points. Couy Nelson added 15; Thomas Nimrod, 7; Ty Phillips and Trevor Holliday, 6 each; and Levi Charley, 2. The Mustangs made four three-point shots and hit 15 of 23 charity tosses.

With the win the Roadrunners, now 25-8, advance to the second round of the state tournament, where they will face No. 8 Valley Christian at 5 p.m. today (Feb. 20) at Camelback High School in Phoenix. If the Birds can get past last year’s defending state champs, they would face either top seeded Blue Ridge or No. 16 Thatcher at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, at Gila River Arena in Glendale.