By Sam Conner The Winslow Bulldogs went 1-2 last week, falling to Snowflake 73-66 in a home game on Wednesday and to the Warriors 55-48 at Tuba City before edging the Holbrook Roadrunners 48-45 on Saturday at home. The Bulldogs closed the week with a 16-6 record. Winslow led by a single point 14-13 after the first quarter against Snowflake and still led 25-24 at the half. The Lobos took the lead in the third quarter and led 49-45 going into the final period before claiming the game 73-66. The whole game was closely played. Snowflake’s Jordan Gardner led all scorers with 25 points. Kegan Bjornn scored 18 and Kurt Wood tallied 17 for the Lobos. Winslow was led by Nathan Hanley with 19 points. Nate Hollins scored 18 for the Bulldogs, followed by Akeem Foster with 12 and Dalvin Benally with 10. The first quarter of Friday’s game was played on nearly even terms and ended with Tuba City leading 18-16. The second quarter was also played fairly evenly, with the Bulldogs taking a 30-28 lead to the locker rooms at the intermission. Winslow played well in the third quarter and took a 44-39 lead into the final period. Tuba City came back and took a lead early in the fourth quarter, but the game was tied with three minutes remaining. Two free throws each by Davean Yazzie and Joseph Mathias gave Tuba City a four-point lead inside the last minute and two more by Mathias upped the lead to six points. Those clutch charity shots were key to the Warriors’ 55-48 victory. Yazzie made two more free throws in the closing seconds. Roland Becenti led all scorers with 19 points for Tuba City. Yazzie added 16 for the Warriors and Mathias scored 11. Hollins led the Bulldogs with 13 points. Benally scored 11 and Foster, 10. The Holbrook game was not decided until the final seconds. Winslow led 11-10 after the first quarter of play and the game was tied 22-22 at the half. Holbrook had a huge third quarter and led 41-32 going into the final period. The Roadrunners appeared in control early in the fourth quarter, but a series of missed layups and turnovers allowed Winslow to get back into the game. The Bulldogs finally tied the game on a three-point shot with about 20 seconds remaining, then Foster stole the ball from a Roadrunner guard near midcourt with the score tied 45-45 and made a layup with just seconds remaining. He was fouled on the play and also converted the free throw to account for the 48-45 margin of victory. Benally led all scorers with 19 points for Winslow. Foster added 14 for the Bulldogs. Abrian Dickson led Holbrook with 10 points, followed by Benson Davis with 9. The Bulldogs were slated to host the Blue Ridge Yellowjackets on Tuesday, and will take on the Scouts on Friday, Jan. 29, at Window Rock. They will host Tuba City in a rematch on Monday, Feb. 1, and Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 2, then end their regular season on Friday, Feb. 5, by hosting Chinle.
Bulldogs Edge Holbrook, But Lose To Snowflake, Tuba City
Printed in the January 27, 2016 edition