Far, far away from their thunderous home court inside The Pit, Yuma’s boys had no problem acclimating to Lake County’s digs more than 5,000 feet higher in elevation as they dominated Class 3A’s Region VIII tournament, March 3-4.
En route to pounding the event-hosting Panthers—seeded eighth in the State Tournament’s opening Round-of-32—in the second-day championship, 86-65, ninth-seeded YHS coolly iced Bayfield 74-51 in one of the previous day’s two semifinals.
Improving to 18-5 via the wins, with losses coming against teams presently standing a combined 93-25 (three of the five—Ault Highland, Sidney, Neb., and Arvada Faith Christian—are still alive in their respective states’ tourneys) overall, head coach Dave Sheffield’s side responded emphatically after losing to FCHS in the previous weekend’s district-tournament finale.
Now set to face the same Eagles, the bracket’s 1-seed, again at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Great Eight—to be held in the University of Denver’s Hamilton Gymnasium–Yuma got a reported 13 points from freshman guard Brody Sheffield and a supportive nine apiece from seniors Javier Duran, Forest Rutledge and Jonathan Carrillo.
Senior forward Jake Haruf and senior guard Daman Hernandez each contributed eight points as the designated home team sprinted out to a 25-4 lead through one quarter, went into halftime up 42-17, and coasted into the final frame ahead 62-30.
According to figures relayed by BHS head coach Scott Key, the No. 24 Wolverines (9-13 overall) got 17 points from senior post Caden Wood and nine from senior guard/forward Jackson Queen. Junior Devin Cundiff was credited with seven points, while senior Lance Mazur and sophomore Lincoln Williams were each awarded six.
