Holbrook’s Lady Roadrunners entered the 3A pool play portion of the state tournament as the No. 16 overall seed. They hosted 19th-seeded Window Rock on Tuesday night.
The Scouts played well early on building an 8-point lead late in the first and into the second period. Deya Guerrero then hit three consecutive triples getting Holbrook back into the game. Shayla Attakai also nailed a long-range shot, helping Holbrook hold a 23-22 halftime lead.
Holbrook’s defense clamped down in the third, limiting the Scouts to just 5 points. Channing Harrington netted 8 points in the quarter and Alayna Yazzie added 3, building Holbrook’s lead to 9 points going into the final frame. In the fourth Guerrero netted another 8 points, and Bailey Williams scored 4, helping Holbrook advance to the 3A state bracket with a 50-39 win.
“I really thought we played one of our better defensive games. We knew Window Rock was much better than their overall record, and they started quickly. Deya got us back into the game in the second, Channing gave us a spark in the third, and Bailey played one of her better games of the season, which helped us advance. Now we have to travel to face a very good Payson team that has only lost six games all season, and just two regular season games. It will be another tough test,” said Coach Greg Perkins.
Guerrero led Holbrook with 17 points. Williams added 12; Harrington, 8; Yazzie, 6; Attakai, 3, Jordan Claw, 2, and Lanaya Tsosie added 2 in the win. Holbrook made six treys and went eight for 10 at the line.
Window Rock was led by Kourtney Bitselley with 18 points. They made seven of 10 charity tosses and hit two shots from behind the arc.
If Holbrook can upset Payson on Monday night in Payson, they would face either No. 4 Pusch Ridge in Tucson on Friday or host No. 13 Sabino on Friday depending on who wins that game between those two rival schools.
