Holbrook senior hits milestone, scores 1000th point
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Holbrook senior Tyler Tapaha (right) stands with Holbrook Superintendent Dr. Robbie Koerperich during halftime against the Tuba City Warriors. Tapaha was recognized for hitting the 1000-point plateau during Saturday’s freedom game.
HOLBROOK, Ariz. – In Friday’s season opener, Holbrook senior post Tyler Tapaha scored 19 point on 8-of-12 shooting in a 52-33 win over the Window Rock Fighting Scouts.
With that, Tapaha needed only 14 points to hit his 1000th point as the senior post scored 30 on Saturday, leading the Roadrunners to a 69-52 win against the Tuba City Warriors.
“It means a lot because I had to start at the bottom my freshman year,” Tapaha said. “I had to play with older players that were better than me, and I was just kind of a role player. Then last year they all graduated, and I had to take that role of being a leader.”
With 3:14 left in the second stanza, Tapaha hit his milestone after hitting both of his free throws as a small celebration was conducted during halftime for his achievements.
“Tyler’s been a big force for us ever since he came in as a freshman,” Holbrook coach Delmar Johnson said. “And if I’m not mistaken, Tyler started a bunch of games for us (his freshman year). That was one of the reasons why we went to the Final Four. You know, it just so happened that something happened with his foot, and he couldn’t play.”
Johnson said they were unaware that Tapaha played with a broken foot in the 3A state quarterfinals against Camp Verde. Despite that he hit two crucial free throws that put Holbrook on top, 63-59.
“After we beat Camp Verde, we advanced to semifinals to play Coolidge,” Johnson said. “He tried to play, you know, going through the warmups but he just couldn’t do anything, so he didn’t play.”
Johnson says his pupil is well-versed and he can play anywhere on the court.
“He can do everything that a point guard can do,” Johnson said. “You know, he can pass, shoot, defend; he can rebound, he can do it all. I mean, he’s the one that’s really get us going.”
Going into this season he had scored 967 points with 607 of those coming in his junior year. His freshman and sophomore seasons, he scored 203 and 157 points, respectively, while playing behind some veteran players.
“Coming into my junior year I really didn’t think I could do it,” Tapaha said of hitting that milestone. “But at the end of my junior I didn’t know that I was that close (33 points) because I didn’t really pay attention to it.”
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow