Lady Birds Win Title At Round Valley Tourney

    The Lady Roadrunners of Holbrook headed into last week’s Round Valley Tournament with four wins in four tries, but they really hadn’t played a complete game. By the time the tournament concluded Saturday evening, they had put together four solid outings and came away with the championship of the tournament outlasting the hosting Lady Elks in a thrilling title game.
   Holbrook opened the tournament with an unimpressive performance over Morenci in the first of two pre-bracket contests. The Lady Roadrunners led by just three points at the half, but played better in the second half, limiting the Lady Wildcats to only 10 points to get the 47-29 win. Amanda Chee scored in each period and led Holbrook with 16 points. Danielle Tapaha added 7 and April Lester scored 6.
   In the second match-up on Thursday, Holbrook faced Alchesay and with a strong fourth quarter from Lester, was able to come from behind and claim a 53-52 win. Led by their very quick point guard Marie Lupe, the Lady Falcons built a 10-point halftime lead. Sheria Billie came off the bench in the third with two big three-point bombs and Chee also hit from distance, helping bring the Lady Birds to within five with eight minutes to play. In the fourth, they finally were able to get the ball inside to their post, who took over down the stretch. Lester led the team in points with 16. Samantha Yazzie scored 9, and Chee and Sheria Billie each added 8 points.
   In the opening round of the bracket on Friday, the Holbrook squad started to play better basketball. The Lady Eagles were a much bigger team and dominated the glass, but Holbrook’s pressure defense was the key to the win. The Lady Roadrunners forced several Thatcher turnovers in the first half, building a 44-20 halftime lead. Lester netted all of her team high 13 points in the second period, and the Lady Birds used their entire bench for most of the second half en route to the 62-42 win. Sheria Billie and Chee scored 9 each, and Cina Cummings had 6.
   With that win Holbrook moved on to face Alchesay for the second time in two days. This time the Lady Roadrunners controlled the game from the outset, turning a seven-point first period lead into a 17-point halftime cushion. The dominance continued into the second half and Holbrook advanced to the semifinal round with a 76-48 win. Yazzie led the team in scoring with 18 points, Sheria Billie added 13, Chee, 10, and Lester, 8.
   In the semifinal round Holbrook faced a very tough Safford squad. This game was played evenly until the late stages of the fourth when the Lady Bulldogs built an eight-point cushion with less than two minutes remaining. From that point on Holbrook turned the tables and used an 11-2 run to come from behind and win the game 50-49, thanks to two crucial free throws from Tapaha which helped seal the win. Aaren Billie converted a four-point play late in the contest to pull Holbrook within one point and Shantina Kinlicheenine secured the final defensive rebound to help the team advance to the championship game.   Aaren Billie and Lester led the team in scoring with 13 points each. Tapaha scored 9 and Danielle Lowman added 4.
   Having spent a lot of energy to get to the title game, the Lady Roadrunners had no idea how much more they would need to give. In the championship game, Round Valley held a two-point lead at the end of the first period and pushed it to three points at the half. In the third Holbrook came back, thanks to three-point shots from Chee and Aaren Billie, and it was the Lady Birds on top by one heading to the fourth. In a tight contest the Holbrook squad worked its way to a two-point lead with less then seven seconds left, but Nikki Buck’s basket as time expired sent the game into the first overtime. The first four minutes weren’t enough to determine the winner, and neither was the second overtime session. Two tired teams played into a third overtime session before Holbrook was finally able to come away with a 65-63, triple overtime win.
   Chee led the team in scoring with 15 points, all coming in the second half. Tapaha and Sheria Billie added 11 each, Yazzie and Lester, 7 each, Mallory Martin, 4, Aaren Billie, 3, Kellin Bakurza, Kinlicheenie and Lowman, 2 each, and Nyomi Yazzie, 1.
   “What a game. The thing I was most proud of was the way the girls stepped up and matched the physical play of Round Valley. Last year and early in this season I hadn’t seen us play physical, but we didn’t back away at all this time and that was key to our win,” said Coach Greg Perkins.
   “Several girls played their hearts out in the game and several girls played very well throughout the tournament to get us to that point. When April Lester fouled out in the second half, our girls really stepped up. Girls came off the bench and did their jobs. Amanda Chee came out with a strong second half performance and hit two huge three-point shots. Sheria Billie and Mallory Martin played great in all three overtime periods, along with Kellin Bakurza and Danielle Lowman, who came in and gave us valuable minutes. Danielle Tapaha played her best minutes of the season during the overtimes and Aaren Billie battled those much bigger girls tough until she was injured, and thankfully she will be okay. And how to describe the play of Samantha Yazzie, who gave us everything in her tank? Sheria Billie’s final two free throws sealed the win, but 11 girls scored in the game, and each and every point was crucial.
   “It was a great atmosphere, a great crowd and a tremendous game. Give credit to Round Valley; they played hard as well. I think we just wanted it a little bit more,” said the coach.
   April Lester and Danielle Tapaha were both named to the All Tournament Team. Samantha Yazzie was selected as the overall Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
   “Samantha and her teammates had an incredible tournament run. She has really stepped up her play this season and is being a great leader of this team right now,” said Coach Perkins. “I was extremely proud of her for getting that award, and am very proud of the girls for what they have done so far.
   “Even though we are now 10-0, our season really gets under way when we face North region foes. The wins are nice, but we now need to get power point wins and conference wins to earn a state playoff berth, which is one of our goals.”
   After hosting Window Rock on Tuesday to open North region play, Holbrook will be busy again this weekend competing in the Winslow Winter Classic. The Lady Birds face Hopi in a first round game at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17.