The Lady Roadrunners started off the season 0-2 but they appear to have found their footing, winning all five of their games played over the course of seven days last week. Beginning with their home court win over Flagstaff last Saturday, Holbrook was on the court five days over a seven day stretch with just one day of practice. Following the Flagstaff win the Ladies were in Blue Ridge on Monday where they picked up a 61-38 road win over the Yellowjackets. Talynn Spencer sparked a good first period with six points and Mateyha Aberle showed her prowess in the second scoring eight of her game high 22 points, helping Holbrook to a 32-16 half time edge. Holbrook slowed their scoring in the third but a 19 point fourth led to the comfortable win. Mateyha Aberle led the way with 22 points despite playing just over a half of the game. Spencer finished with 10; Terry Nez added 8; Raelle Yazzie and Makani Tsipai each had 5; Jineane Cummings, 4; Shan Footracer, 3, Abigayle Nez and Abigail Benally each scored two points. Holbrook made four three-point shots and went 3 for 4 at the line. The following day Holbrook hosted Payson where another quick start led to a double-digit first quarter lead. Mateyha Aberle scored six in the first and Benally added five. Holbrook really took control of the game in the second, pouring in 31 points in the quarter to lead 48-14 at the half. Jineane Cummings netted 9, Benally 6, and Mateyha Aberle tacked on five in the quarter. Three-point shots from Cummings and Tsipai helped the team control the third period and freshman Noheah Aberle netted all five of Holbrook’s fourth quarter points including a three-point shot helping the team to a 71-28 home court win. In total the Lady Roadrunners made seven three-point field goals and went 16 for 20 at the free throw line. Defending 2A state champion Thatcher, now playing in 3A came to Holbrook on Thursday. They got off the bus and ran right into Holbrook’s full court pressure, which resulted in a 19-10 first period Holbrook lead. Cummings paced the Birds with seven points in the frame. Holbrook added one to their lead in the second with five girls scoring. The third period put the game away for Holbrook. Mika Joe, playing in her first game of the season sparked the team with three treys including two in the third period. Spencer also connected from distance and Mateyha Aberle tacked on four more to her total. Benally hit twice from distance in the fourth as Holbrook handed the Eagles just their second loss of the season by a final of 62-39. The Roadrunners were led by Joe with 11; Cummings and Benally each had 10; Matehya Aberle and Spencer both scored 7; Shan Footracer, 6; Abigayle Nez, 5; Terry Nez, 4; and Tsipai finished with 2. Holbrook made 3 of 8 free throws and connected on nine treys against the much taller Eagles team. Thatcher finished with two treys and went 7 for 10 at the line. Holbrook traveled to Winslow on Friday for the first of two traditional I-40 rivalry battles. Winslow came into the game with just one loss and riding a four game win streak. The two teams battled to an even 15-15 first period. Spencer scored five and Cummings four in the first. Both teams cooled a bit in the second where Holbrook outscored the Lady Dawgs by three to lead 25-22 at the half. Holbrook edged out that lead to eight points in the third behind five from Abigayle Nez and four from Mateyha Aberle. Holbrook put the game away in the fourth. Two long treys from Benally and six traditional points from Mateyha Aberle paced Holbrook to a 20-point quarter and a 61-47 win. Mateyha Aberle led all scorers with 16 points and pulled down 11 boards. Abigayle Nez added 10; Benally, 9; Spencer, 9; Cummings, 7; Shan Footracer, 5; Joe, 3; and Terry Nez had two. Holbrook made seven three-point shots and went 16 for 25 at the line. Winslow was paced by Kylie Begay’s 11 points. Kristen Wagner added 10, and Jayleigh Meyers helped with 9. The Bulldogs made three treys and went 10 for 18 at the line. With the four wins during the week along with the Flagstaff win, Holbrook has gone from a 0-2 start to 5-2 on the season. They only have two games scheduled for this week. After playing at Show Low on Tuesday, they will host Blue Ridge on Friday as they begin their second time through the east region schedule. Next Tuesday, Holbrook hosts Snowflake in a revenge game from a couple of weeks ago when the Lobos got the win. “It is going to be really good to get some practice time in this week. We were in terrible shape in our first week of the season and really hadn’t spent a lot of time on the court as a full team and our performance showed it. This stretch of games has helped us in that area. We still have a lot to work on and it will be great to get some practice time to do just that. Super proud of the girls for their effort during this past five game stretch. We have a veteran team and they took care of themselves and each other and started to pull together during the week. I know by Friday they were very tired, but any time you play Winslow the adrenaline kicks in and they were able to get the job done. We have a deep bench that really helped us last week. Now we can focus on getting better and continue to improve in the final three weeks of the regular season,” stated Roadrunner Coach Greg Perkins.