Lady Roadrunners pad their season with two more wins

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Cummings and Aberle led the way in scoring with 15 points each. Madison Chappell added 11 with another double-digit rebounding game. Bain counted for 8; Mika Joe, 7; Tristen Ambrose, 3; Joyceynn Thomas, 3; and Talynn Spencer had 2. Holbrook made 16 of 21 free throws and hit six three-point shots.

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Blue Ridge was paced by Kierra Smith’s eight points. The Yellowjackets made one three-point field goal and went six for 10 at the line.

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“We played a fairly solid game. We had some tired legs going in and that showed up in a few places but the girls did a good job of working through it. Megan and Matehya scored well, and Madison continued her dominating performance on the boards and within our defense with steals. Tristen and Desirae did their jobs and we were able to get a good win,” stated Roadrunner Coach Greg Perkins.

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On Saturday, Holbrook hosted the hot shooting Lady Pirates from Valley Sanders. This team had been scorching the nets from three-point land in their three previous games, making at least 46 three-point shots in that time frame.

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“We knew we had to keep them off the three-point line as much as possible and after giving up four in the first half we did much better in the second half limiting them to just one which was key to the win,” said Perkins.

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Holbrook led 10-8 after the first but Valley gained all the momentum, much to the delight of their large following, with a 14-point second period, which included three of their trademark treys. Holbrook trailed 22-19 at the break and was still behind 33-29 heading to the fourth. In the final period the Roadrunners cranked up their defense holding the Pirates to just two fourth quarter points and got points in the paint from both Chappell and Aberle to pull away for the 44-35 win. Aberle led with 14; Chappell added 12; Cummings, 6; Bain, 6; Ambrose 4; and Spencer added two. Holbrook made three treys, but struggled from the charity line making just seven of 16 attempts.

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Valley was led by Dana Yazzie and Valiyah Yazzie with 10 each. The Pirates finished with five treys, four of which came in the first half. They went six of 11 at the charity stripe.

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“We knew their main offensive game plan was launching three-point shots and with the exception of a couple of break downs in the first half we did a decent job of keeping them from bombing away. Our goal was to keep them at four or less and when they had that by halftime we knew we had to work harder in the second half and the girls did a good job. They are very good at what they do but I knew we would have our chances on the offensive end. We shot terribly but we were finally able to get the ball inside late in the fourth quarter to pull away and get the win. Madi and Matehya were too much for them to handle with their zone. It just took three periods for us to get those points. Matehya struggled early but came through with some key shots late in the game. Madi played a great game finishing with 12 points, an incredible 20 rebounds, seven steals and eight assists,” said Perkins.

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With the two wins Holbrook improved their season record to 17-4 and they are now 8-3 in regular season games. They will be ranked at least seventh, maybe higher, when they travel to Show Low on Tuesday. On Friday they will make the trip to Payson. Next Tuesday will be their second meeting with Winslow, with this one played in Holbrook.

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