Birds Rack Up 78-65 Win Over Monument Valley

By Greg Perkins
   Holbrook’s Roadrunners picked up their 20th win of the season Saturday evening with a 78-65 home court win on Senior Night over Monument Valley. Seniors Brian Hansen, Tyler Stingley and Adrian San-doval played their final regular season home game, and the trio combined for 48 of the team’s total points.
   Holbrook started slowly and trailed by two at the end of the first eight minutes of action. Stingley did his part to keep the Birds close, scoring eight in the quarter. In the second Sandoval, Hansen, Kory Koer-perich and Jalen Jackson each hit three-point shots, helping Holbrook pour in 28 points to grab the halftime lead at 41-33.
   Holbrook remained hot from the outside in the third sparked by Hansen, who nailed four of his five treys in that period alone. Sandoval added two more threes and Holbrook opened up an 18-point lead head-ing to the fourth. Monument held the upper hand in the final period, but the Birds were never in danger of losing the game.
   Hot shooting from the perimeter was the key to the Roadrunners win as they netted 12 shots from be-hind the arc. They matched that with 12 regular field goals and converted 18 of 24 free throws.
   Stingley led the team in scoring with 18 points. Hansen added 17, Sandoval, 13, Koerperich, 10, Jack-son, 9, Ilacian Johnson, 6, Rashaun Baldwin, 3, and Bryson Keoni came off the bench to score 2 points.
   The Mustangs were led by Zachary Keith with a game high 24 points. Preston Parrish added 10, Alan Todachine, 9, Shayn Begay, 6, Jonathan Delmar and Shawn Speck, 4 each, Pierson Bronston, 3, Chad Keith and Justin Curley, 2 each, and Delvin Holiday, 1.
   Monument Valley hit seven three-point shots and converted 14 of 20 free throws.
MV           15 18 15 17   65
Holbrook 13 28 25 12   78
   With the win Holbrook improved to 20-4 on the season and moved to 5-2 in the North Region. This week they are scheduled to play at Chinle tonight (Feb. 3) against a Wildcat team that has given them and a lot of other teams problems. The Cats are currently leading the North Region and usually play very well at home. However, if the Roadrunners continue to shoot the ball like they have been, they could pull off the upset. On Saturday, Feb. 6, Holbrook will conclude the regular season at Window Rock in a game that has been rescheduled several times due to poor weather. The North Region tournament begins next Tuesday, Feb. 9, with four games played at Chinle. Holbrook may play as the No. 2 seed at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday against the seventh seed.