The Lady Roadrunners held on to their number one overall ranking with two more wins last week. They opened east region play last Monday night in Payson against an improved Lady Longhorn team, which had just one regular season loss prior to Holbrook making a visit. Payson jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but a three-point bomb by Terry Nez caught the Birds up quickly and they eventually outscored the home team 22-8 in the first quarter. Seven of Holbrook’s nine players scored in the first period led by Shan Footracer’s eight points. In the second, Footracer added four more to her total and Talynn Spencer nailed trey helping Holbrook open up a 38-18 halftime lead. In the third, Holbrook netted just nine but still held a comfortable lead. Alyssa Yazzie netted a pair of three-point shots in the fourth and Noheah Aberle scored twice in the paint helping the Roadrunners hand Payson a 60-34 loss. Alyssa Yazzie led Holbrook in scoring with 14 points. Footracer added 13; Aberle, 10; Spencer, 7; Terry Nez, 4; Abigayle Nez, 4; Raelle Yazzie, 3; Deya Guerrero, 3; and Sam Billie netted two in the win. Holbrook welcomed in Chinle on Wednesday night. The Lady Wildcats have been battling the good 3A north teams in recent weeks, and they came into Holbrook ready to pick up a much needed win. Holbrook defeated Chinle back in December and although it was a tough physical game, they made enough fourth quarter free throws to hand Chinle a second loss. Holbrook led 15-7 after one quarter. Spencer led the home team with seven points in the first eight minutes. Holbrook made just two field goals in the second, but they were both treys, one by Makani Tsipai and the other from Footracer helping the Ladies hold a 25-19 lead at the half. In the third, Abigayle Nez drained two from distance and Footracer added four to her total. With Holbrook leading by seven at the start of the fourth, they were able to get to the free throw line where they made 9 of 12 charity tosses over the final eight minutes to secure the 48-40 home court win. Spencer led the team in scoring with 18 points. Abigayle Nez added 10, Footracer 9, Billie 3, Makani Tsipai 3, Guerrero 2, Aberle 2, and Nikol Gombos made one free throw. “We knew we really had to focus on defending Aisha Ashley who is their best player. She is so good and I thought both Noheah and Shan did a great job of keeping her away from the ball. It was a good defensive team effort to get this win. We really didn’t shoot all that well, but our defense saved us,” stated Coach Greg Perkins. Holbrook has been on a five-day COVID pause and is slated to return to the court on Friday night when they host Winslow, who has also been on a pause. “Trying to get through these final four weeks of the season might be a challenge for a lot of the teams who are taking precautions to try and stay as safe as possible. We will do our best to adjust to the changing schedule and we know there will be a bunch of games possibly scheduled over the course of the final three weeks,” said Perkins. With the two wins, Holbrook pushes their overall record to 15-2 and they are 7-0 in regular season contests. After hosting Winslow on Friday, they are currently slated to host Snowflake next Tuesday.
