The Roadrunners of Holbrook finished the basketball season in Chinle last Wednesday night, where they fell to the Wildcats in the first round of the 3A state tournament. The Roadrunners liked their draw when the brackets were released placing them as the 18th seed, which meant they had to travel to 15th seeded Chinle. The two teams had split their regular season meetings, with each team holding serve on their home court.
Holbrook struggled to find the mark in the first eight minutes, but trailed just 10-4 heading to the second. That deficit grew to nine points at the half, but in the third Holbrook rallied to tie the game at 28-28 with eight minutes left. In the fourth the Birds built a five-point lead with a couple of minutes left to play and it appeared they were poised to pull off the upset and advance to the second round. Chinle’s Nachae Nez hit a late game three-point shot, though, putting the Wildcats ahead for good in the waning seconds of the game. The Roadrunners made a couple of three-point shot attempts in the final seconds, but neither found the mark, leaving the Birds on the wrong side of a 42-40 final score.
That two-point loss brought an end to Holbrook’s season with an overall record of 12-19.
Chinle went on to lose to second seeded Blue Ridge on Saturday in Eagar.
