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Playing their first game without Kobi Koerperich on Tuesday night the Roadrunners nearly upset visiting Blue Ridge. Early on it looked like Holbrook would have a tough time finding points but Josiah Freddie netted all eight of the first quarter points for Holbrook. They made eight more in the second but trailed Blue Ridge 32-16 at the half.
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In the third Holbrook caught fire from distance. Blayne Nelson hit three, and Zeke Begaii and Damien Clark each had one trey as the Birds trimmed three points off the Blue Ridge lead.
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In the fourth Holbrook kept bombing away and they hit five more three-point shots including two in the waning seconds to pull within two points late in the game. With 10 seconds left in the game and trailing by two points, Freddie went aggressively to the bucket and earned a trip to the line. He missed the first then had to miss the second on purpose hoping for a put back to tie the game.
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Holbrook couldn’t come up with the rebound, but had one final chance after Blue Ridge missed the front end of a one and one on their end. Anthony Nelson’s bank shot three-point attempt to win the game in the final second came off the rim leaving the Birds with the 52-50 loss.
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Holbrook made only four two-point field goals in the game but more than made up for from behind the arc where they accumulated 13 three-point field goals led by the Nelson brothers, Blayne and Anthony with eight between them. The Roadrunners made three of eight free throw attempts.
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Nelson led the team in scoring with 16 points; Freddie added 13; Begaii, 9; Anthony Nelson, 9; and Damien Clark finished with 3.
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Blue Ridge was led by RJ Tate with 14 points. The Yellowjackets made eight three-point field goals and converted six of 10 free throws.
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With the loss Holbrook dropped to 14-12 overall and they are 9-7 in regular season games. They were ranked 13th when the game began, just one spot behind the 12th ranked Yellowjackets. Holbrook hosted No. 17 Show Low on Feb. 8 in what was their final regular season home contest. They have a good chance to host a first round playoff game next week if they can finish the season ranked inside the top 16 in the final standings.
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