Holbrook finished the regular season ranked 16th in the Copper tournament standings and as a result traveled to face San Tan Charter in the first round of the Copper tournament on Wednesday night.
The top ranked team, also called the Roadrunners showed why they are in the top spot with a 67-33 win over Holbrook. The Birds started the game well enough staying within striking range through the first quarter and were only down 29-17 at the half.
The third quarter was where the separation started. San Tan came out with a dunk and a 3-point shot, sparking a 20-7 difference in the third, then kept the hot shooting up in the fourth to win the game by a comfortable margin. San Tan made eight 3-point field goals, six from their point guard, while Holbrook who needed to make several treys against the taller more athletic San Tan team netted just four from distance.
Holbrook was led in scoring by Travis Bia who held his own against the bigger lineup scoring 10 points. Braylon Taliman, Manny Guerrero and Manny Rico each had 6, Keith Thompson and Amare Nelson each had 2, and Cody Nockideneh helped with 1.
With the loss Holbrook falls back into the 3A state championship bracket where they will host Snowflake as the No. 7 overall seed on Tuesday night. The 10th seeded Lobos are coming in off an impressive win over Tuba City in the pool play round of the state tournament on Friday night.
Holbrook and Snowflake split their two meetings during the regular season. The Lobos overcame a 2-point halftime deficit to win by 22 points in Snowflake prior to Christmas. Holbrook then held off a pesky Lobo team in Holbrook, surviving a pair of missed Snowflake free throws in the final seconds for a 48-47 win.
Both teams are coming in on win streaks, and both have been playing well late in the season. The winner moves on to face either No. 2 Payson or No. 15 ALA West Foothills in the quarterfinal round on Friday night, while the loser will see their season come to a close.
The game will be in Holbrook in front of an expected packed house at Munoz Gym.
