The Lady Roadrunners went 5-1 at the Round Valley Tournament claiming the title in the Round Ball shootout with a hard fought performance over a much taller Show Low team in the championship game on Saturday afternoon. It was their second consecutive tournament title and third in the past four years at the Round Valley event. Holbrook opened the tournament with pool play on Thursday and dropped their first game to Bradshaw Mountain. Holbrook was playing a little short-handed, but the team played well defensively allowing just 39 points in a six-point loss. Sam Billie led the team in scoring with 8 points. Abigayle Nez added 7 and Shan Footracer helped with 6. Holbrook’s second pool play game was a struggle, at least through the first half before the Lady Birds pulled away in the second to secure a 54-37 win. Talynn Spencer led the team in scoring with 18 points and Noheah Aberle added 13. Friday at noon the ladies opened bracket play against Safford. Playing in the old gym at Round Valley, Holbrook found the surroundings comfortable pouring in eight treys en route to a 54-22 win. Nez led a balanced attack with 10 points. Freshman Alayna Yazzie added 9 as did Billie. Footracer scored 8 and Raelle Yazzie netted 7. Friday night Holbrook met up with tournament host Round Valley and survived a physical contest with a 47-34 win to advance to Saturday’s semi-final round. Holbrook got beat up in this game against a much more physical Elk team. The game was knotted at 20-20 at the half but in the third Holbrook got six points from Footracer and a trey from Nez, helping them pull away in the second half. Nez, Spencer, Aberle and Footracer each scored 8 points to lead the team to the semi-finals. Saturday morning Holbrook met up with a talented Fort Thomas unit. The Roadrunners built a seven-point lead through the first period but went to the locker room up just three. Fort Thomas pulled ahead and lead by two going into the final eight minutes. In the fourth the Lady Roadrunners showed their resolve battling back from a four-point deficit to overtake the Apaches down the stretch and advance to the title game with a 46-41 win. Nez drained five three-point field goals and led the team in scoring with 17 points. Spencer added 8. Collectively Holbrook connected on nine treys in the win. Facing East Region foe Show Low in the title game the Roadrunners came up against a Cougar team that hadn’t been in a close game the whole tournament. The much taller Lady Cougars led by one at the end of the first. Aberle hit two threes helping Holbrook keep pace. In the second both teams struggled to score but Holbrook edged in front 19-17. The third period was the changing point. Holbrook’s defense clamped down on the taller Cougars holding them to just three points. Holbrook offense heated up behind back-to-back treys from Nez and the Birds built up as much as a 15-point lead eventually leading by 10 heading into the fourth. In the final period Show Low made a run, trimming Holbrook’s lead to as little as six at one stretch before the Lady Birds dug deep and held on to win the tournament title with a 39-33 final outcome. “This team worked very hard. I’m not sure I have ever had a group of girls as physically exhausted as we were by the end of this tournament. Our senior leaders really came through for us the whole tournament and we got strong performances from our role players when we needed them. I really wasn’t sure we could win this tournament this year as we are still adjusting to find our new identity. But defense has always been, and will always be key to our program and I thought defensively we played very well from top to bottom. Super proud of the girls,” stated Coach Greg Perkins. Spencer was named the Tournament MVP. Nez was selected to the All Tournament Team. Prior to the weekend tournament, Holbrook remained unbeaten in regular season play with a 63-32 home court win over Ganado on Tuesday. The Birds played well early building a 15-2 lead at the end of the first eight minutes. That lead grew to 34-10 at the half. Holbrook netted 20 points in the third putting the game out of reach. Nez led the team in scoring with 17 points. Spencer added 14; Aberle netted 9; Alayan Yazzie, 7; Daya Guerrero, 6; Nikol Gombos, 6; Billie, 2; and Shondiin Ben added 2. Holbrook, now 8-1 on the season, will host Chinle on Friday night. Following a little time off for Christmas they will play in the Epic Tourney Chandler Prep Tournament held Dec. 28-30.