The Yuma High School Girls’ Basketball Team will be hosting the Class 3A Regional Tournament at The Pit on Fridays and Saturdays, where you can enjoy the comfort of your home and home court.
Head Coach Jeremy Robinson said: “This is the first time in years that we sleep in our own beds.”
Yuma defeated Prospect Ridge and St. Mary’s Academy in the district tournament at Manual High School last weekend to qualify for the district tournament for the first time since the 2019 championship season.
The 14-7 former Indians are the fourth seed in the 32-team regional field. The 29th-seeded Lions are 12-10 this weekend, while the 13th-seeded Grand Valley are 16-6 and the 20th-seeded Bennett are 18-4.
Yuma will take on the Lions on Friday at 5:30 pm, followed by the Grand Valley against Bennett.
Friday’s winners will meet at Sweet 16 on Saturday at 1pm.
Robinson said every team has a winning record. But he said he was encouraged by his team’s play in Saturday’s district final.
“That was the January team[when Yuma won nine in a row],” Robinson said. “If I can go back to playing like that, I’d like to take a chance with anyone.”
The Lions came to town last Saturday after beating the Dawson School 30-24 to finish third in the district competition. Heritage, which Yuma defeated in his December campaign against his Christian, was a common opponent, and in December he beat the Lions 60-31. The Merinos are also frequent opponents, but both teams lost to the 2A top-seeded Rams during the regular season.
Bennett has a flashy record, but the Tigers’ schedule is weak. (Yuma has the toughest strength on the schedule at 3A.)
While acknowledging that Yuma has to get over the Lions first, Robinson said it’s the Grand Valley that’s really getting his attention. Off the parachute, the Cardinals made it to the 3A semifinals last year and brought back most of the players on that team. They’re coming to Yuma after he lost 58-50 to the North Fork in last Saturday’s district final.
“Grand Valley looks pretty good,” said Robinson. “We have two players who do most of the scoring. One is the big guard and he’s the one who shoots a lot of his 3-point shots.”
It’s likely to be a wide-open area, so Yuma should be ready to play full force.
The girls seem to be back in form at the regionals after playing 3 matches over 4 days for 3 consecutive weeks.
They opened with a 47-21 win over Prospect Ridge last Friday afternoon in the semifinals at Manual High School’s Thunderdome.
Yuma appeared to struggle with deep space behind the basket early on and eventually scored eight points in the first quarter. The former Indians rolled some more in the second half, closing out the first half with 11 consecutive points in a 19-5 lead.
They extended their run to 29 straight points, and Miners eventually made a free throw with eight seconds left in the third quarter.
Yuma led 37-6 and put the finishing touches in the fourth round.
“We have to do a better job starting games,” Robinson said.
Yuma shot only 32%, but it was an easy win as the Miners were held to 21%.
Lee Richardson has 14 points, 7 steals and 6 rebounds, Jaylin Mekelberg has 6 points and 8 rebounds, Alina Moran has 6 points and 9 rebounds, Jazmin Sotero has 5 points and Ashley Ibanez has 4 points and 4 assists. , Liddy Day 3 points, 2 rebounds, Cadiz Robinson 3 points, Jade Langwitz 2 points 3 rebounds, Bailey Naiswonger 2 points 3 rebounds, Lindsay Mekelberg 1 point 4 rebounds 3 steals, Elizabeth Mendoza 1 point, Emma Leil 4 rebounds 3 assists.
Yuma stuck around to watch St. Mary’s Academy dismantle Faith Christian in the other semi-final (but only after the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate the school).
As the girls were prepped for Saturday afternoon’s district final, it seemed to catch Yuma’s attention and dominated their way to a 58-25 win.
They still missed a lot of shots early on, but took a 14-4 lead after the first quarter. When Yuma started his second with his 10-2 run and closed out the quarter with his 9-2 spurt, including his 6 straight by Richardson, earning his halftime lead of 33-12. , their pressure began to trickle down to the Wildcats.
As Yuma extended their lead to 48–14, Day scored seven in a row for the third time to pass the fourth and win the district title.
“It’s something we’ve talked about,” Robinson said of returning to higher level play. They bounced back and did a great job, and that’s how we played in January.”
Yuma did a little better off the floor, shooting 35%, but the defense was great again, holding the Wildcats to 17%.
Robinson had 15 points and 6 rebounds, Richardson had 12 points and 3 rebounds, Day 11 points and 3 rebounds, Moran had 5 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals, Ibanez had 5 points and 4 rebounds, J. Mekelberg had 4 points and 4 rebounds 5 rebounds, Langwitz has 2 points, Lauren Gonzalez 2 points, Rail 1 point and 4 rebounds, L. Mekelberg 1 point and 3 rebounds, Nice Wonger 3 rebounds.
“I was proud of what they played on Saturday,” Robinson said.
