Somehow the Yuma High School girls basketball team ended up with the second seed in the Class 2A District 2 Tournament.
However, it ended up not paying off, as the Indians lost 54-40 to seventh-seed Burlington, Tuesday night in The Pit in the district opener. They played one of their best halves of the season, and appeared well on their way to advancing to the semifinals later this week in Sterling, racing out to a 34-18 lead.
However, Yuma scored only two points in the third quarter, and Burlington, led by two talented underclassmen, stormed back for the victory.
Now the Indians have to wait, and hope they get one of the at-large berths to regional through their Rating Percentage Index, which was at 17th earlier this week.
Yuma got the second seed despite a six-game losing streak during the regular season. However, the Indians beat Wray right before the skid, and beat Sedgwick County last week in the regular season finale after snapping out of it.
Those ended up being key victories.
Top-ranked Holyoke ran away with the LPAA title, and is the top-seed for district, getting a bye into Friday’s semifinals in Sterling.
However, nearly everyone else was a jumbled mess. Sedgwick County beat Akron last Friday to finish 3-2 against the LPAA’s other 2A teams, while Yuma, Wray and Akron each were 2-3. However, Burlington joins the LPAA teams for district and had played everyone, so the Cougars’ games were added to the mix for determining the district seeding.
Sedgwick County had lost to Burlington, while Yuma, Wray and Akron all had wins, leaving the four teams 3-3. The games between SC, Yuma, Wray and Akron then were considered, with Sedgwick County and Yuma both going 2-1. Yuma had beat Sedgwick County, so the Indians got the second seed.
“Everyone ahead of us lost to the wrong teams, and we beat the right teams,” coach Jeremy Robinson said. “…This is the only district (in 2A) that is completely bipolar.”
That proved out Tuesday night as two lower-seeds pulled off victories. Fourth-seed Wray held serve on Tuesday, knocking off fifth-seed Akron, 69-59.
District action now moves to the NJC Bank of Colorado Events Center in Sterling, Friday and Saturday. Holyoke plays Wray at 4 p.m., and upstarts Wiggins and Burlington play at 7 p.m. The third-place game is 4 p.m. Saturday, and the championship is at 7. The top-three teams automatically qualify for regional, with the district champion getting to host a four-team regional next weekend.
Yuma, Sedgwick County and Akron are reduced to hoping for at-large berths, which likely could happen.
The Indians finished the regular season with a 9-10 record, closing it on a two-game winning streak. They finally snapped their six-game skid two Fridays ago at Caliche, but then met up with sixth-ranked Sedgwick County in the finale, last Tuesday in The Pit.
It did not look good for the Indians as they fell behind 13-1, and also trailed 20-13. However, they got the game close by halftime, and just kept it going in the second half. There were some tense moments in the final minutes when it looked like the Tribe might lose its lead, but the Indians eventually sealed the 47-42 win at the free-throw line.
Lea Richardson had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, Caddis Robinson nine points and seven rebounds, Ashley Ibanez eight points and four rebounds, Meidi Reyes seven points, four rebounds and two assists, Liddy Day four points, Lyndsey Mekelburg three points, Sam Wells two points and five rebounds, Emma Rayl two points, three rebounds and two assists, and Jossy Munoz three rebounds and two steals. Haley Eyring had one rebound, and Jade Lungwitz one assist.
“The girls finally got that dog mentality back just in time,” Robinson said.
They maintained it for the first half, Tuesday, then it all went away.
