The Lady Roadrunners survived one game then easily controlled their second game last week moving their regular season game mark to 5-0. Playing in Round Valley on Thursday night in their first action since the break, the Lady Roadrunners seemed in control early holding a 24-14 halftime lead. Holbrook had balanced scoring with eight players scoring in the half led by Abigayle Nez’s two three-point shots for six points. Noheah Aberle had five at the half but saved her best three for the end of the game. In the third Raelle Yazzie hit a triple and a layup and Talynn Spencer added a three-point shot but Holbrook’s lead was trimmed to just four at 35-31 heading into the final eight minutes. In the fourth, Round Valley held the Birds to just 10 points, catching and passing them on the scoreboard. With the Elks leading 44-42 with less than 30 seconds on the clock, Holbrook forced them into a turnover with a defensive trap on the sideline. Terry Nez then threw a long pass to Aberle who stepped to the arc and banked in a three point field goal giving Holbrook a 45-44 lead with about 15 seconds still on the clock. Round Valley drove the ball right into the lane with 10 seconds left where Aberle then took a very physical charge, giving the ball back to Holbrook on the turnover. From that point, the Lady Birds were able to run out the final 10 seconds on the clock to escape with a one-point win. “We really didn’t deserve to win the game, but we will still take it. They are much improved from when we played them earlier and they outplayed us for most of the second half, but the girls kept in it mentally and we got two really big defensive stops on their last two possessions. It was an ugly win but still a win,” stated Coach Greg Perkins. Abigayle Nez and Aberle each led the team in scoring with eight points. Nez and Shan Footracer both had 6; Spencer and Raelle Yazzie both had five; Alyssa Yazzie, 3; Sam Billie, 2; and Nikol Gombos netted two. Hosting a struggling ALA Gilbert North team on Saturday afternoon Billie scored a layup on the opening possession and the game was never close. Holbrook led 20-6 at the end of the first, 36-10 at the half, then limited the young Eagles team to just seven points in the second half before winning the game 56-17. “We knew they were a struggling team so we worked on some things we don’t usually get a chance to work on. We still struggled shooting the ball, but overall, it was a solid game for us as we head into east region play this week,” said Perkins. Holbrook was led by Billie’s 13-point effort. Footracer added 12; Abigayle Nez, 7; Terry Nez, 6; Spencer, 5; Aberle, 5; Deya Guerrero, 4; Shondiin Ben, 2; and Alyssa Yazzie had 2. Holbrook is ranked at the top of the 3A girls rankings and entered this week as the only unbeaten girls’ team in 3A. They will have a huge challenge this week to remain in that spot. After playing at a good Payson team on Monday night they are slated to host Chinle on Wednesday in a rescheduled game from Dec. 17. On Friday Show Low comes to Holbrook for a huge east region match up. Next Tuesday Holbrook travels to Blue Ridge. The Lady Roadrunners are 13-2 overall on the season heading into this week.