Hosting Payson on senior night in their regular season finale the Roadrunners played well enough to secure a 61-33 win over the Longhorns. The tone was set early with Holbrook pouring in 19 first period points while allowing just five to Payson. Josiah Freddie and Tyrell Nelson each contributed six in the second period pacing the Birds to a 32-13 halftime edge. Terrence Kelly picked up the scoring in the third with seven of the teams 16. Nelson added two more treys to his total of five for the game in the fourth and Jaron Woody sank all three of his free throw attempts helping Holbrook get their 14th win of the season.
Nelson led the Birds in scoring with 17 points. Freddie added 11; Kelly, 7; Eric Baldonado, 6; Jaren Jackson, 4; Jaron Woody, 3; Jared Woody, 3; and Tynen Thomas added 3. Holbrook made eight three-point shots, and went seven for nine at the charity stripe.
With the win the Roadrunners finished up the regular season with a 14-15 overall record. They went 4-6 in the East Region and will be the No. 4 seed in the regional tournament. As the fourth seed they hosted fifth seeded Show Low on Tuesday. With a win they would advance to face the top seeded Bulldogs in Winslow on Thursday night. Holbrook would then play again on Friday night either for the region championship or for third or fourth place.
Region tournament games have no impact on the state power rankings. Holbrook entered the weekend ranked 22nd in power points and if they can remain at that position or higher they will qualify for the state tournament and will begin play in the first round on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at the site of a higher seed.
On the boys side of the east region, Winslow, Blue Ridge and Snowflake finished in a three-way tie for first place with identical 8-2 region records. Since they all had beaten each other, the second tiebreaker was overall record in conference games, which belonged to Winslow with a 14-2 mark. Blue Ridge was 10-2, and Snowflake was 11-5. Holbrook was fourth, Show Low finished fifth, and Payson was sixth.
