Yuma High School’s men’s basketball team entered the week with a five-game winning streak.
The men are 8-2 overall and 4-0 in Lower Platt heading into Tuesday’s rescheduled home game against undefeated Class 2A top-ranked Limon. Yuma placed him 4th in the Class 3A RPI this week and 5th in CHSAAANow.com’s 3A Top 10 Coaches Poll. He then improved to 9-2 with a comfortable 61-51 victory over Limon.
Still, the ex-Indian still has things to clean up.
“We didn’t get off to a really good start this year,” said coach Dave Sheffield.
Still, it looks like the 2022-23 teams are gearing up for a stretch run in February.
“We seal defects every week,” Sheffield said. “[The players]never give up and always go all in. It’s good. This is a different team than last year, but I think everyone understands that.”

Thanks to you, Yuma is leading a busy life. In addition to last Tuesday’s game with Limon, the former tribe traveled to Sydney, Nebraska on Wednesday and went to Wiggins for league play on Friday.
“They’re dangerous,” Sheffield said of Wiggins Tigers, who are 9-5 overall and 2-1 in Lower Platte. He said they rebound, shoot well and are fast. “They’re never a team you can sleep on.”
Then Yuma will host 3A Strasburg Indians (the school has pacts with American Indian tribes dating back several years) on Tuesday.
Sheffield pointed out that Yuma could play in three games for four weeks in a row.
Last weekend saw only a home game against rival Ray, as Saturday’s home game against Payton was postponed to February 15.
Played in front of a packed house in the pits was another fun Yuma County rivalry game.
But early on it was a little scary for the hometown faithful as Ray took a 14-6 lead. Yuma closed the gap to 14-10 by the end of the 1st quarter and eventually a bucket of Jesus Ross early in the 2nd quarter gave him a 15-14 lead.
Yuma led 19-16 but Ray took the lead again 5-0 before Yuma scored the last four points to give them a 23-21 halftime lead.
The Homeboys led 31-27 and had five players to score as they closed out the third with a 10-0 run to lead 41-27.
Yuma pushed his lead to 16 points early in the fourth set and closed out the game with a 53-36 victory in the charity stripes.
It was a big rivalry win for Yuma after escaping the Eagles’ nest in a two-point decision in last month’s season opener. can be a challenge. Ray currently goes 8-5 in the league, 3-1, and ranks him 5th in the 2A Top 10 poll and 9th in the 2A RPI.
Both teams shot only 41% of the time, but Yuma had 15 more shots. The former Indians also charity with his stripes he went 11 of 13 and Ray went 4 of his 8. Yuma held a slight 26-25 advantage on the board and he scored 14 steals in just 13 turnovers compared to Ray’s 26 turnovers.
Yuma were without senior Jake Halfe for the second straight game due to injury, but many different players continued to step up.
“We have different guys who can lead the scoring on any given night,” said Sheffield. “We said before the season that the guards had to rebound. They’re rebounding. This is huge for us.”
Forrest Rutledge has 18 points and 2 steals, Ross has 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Javier Durán has 8 points and 3 rebounds, Jonathan Carrillo has 7 points and 8 rebounds, Brody Sheffield has 6 points and 2 rebounds, Angel Escobar has 2. Scored 3 rebounds. , Christian Duarte with 2 points and 2 steals, Jonathan Thomson with 2 points and Daman Hernandez with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
The former Indians then had their most impressive half of the season, completely dominating 2A top-ranked Limon in the first half to take a 34-13 lead.
However, the Badgers began to capitalize on their size advantage in the second half, with Yuma causing foul trouble on several players.
Limon came within three points in the fourth quarter. However, Yuma sealed the game at 14-14 with the Charity Stripes and signed a 10-point win deal. Overall, Yuma made 21 of 23 and Limon made 10 of his 21 at the free throw line.
Rutledge double-doubled with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Jake Halfe had 11 points and 3 rebounds, Ross had 9 points and 2 rebounds, Escobar had 7 points and 3 rebounds and Sheffield had 6 points. Scored, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, Hernandez 5 points, 2 steals, Duran 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, Carrillo 3 steals, 2 assists, Duarte 2 assists.