Yuma High School’s boys basketball team is going through a character test.
“You can choose to cry about it or move forward,” coach Dave Sheffield said. “We’re still the same team that we were. We’re on a skid, so we have to rectify that.”
The Outlaws entered this week on a rare three-game losing streak, including a wild 73-72 home loss to University last Friday in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal. They still were 16-5 and No. 5 in the 3A CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index heading this past Wednesday’s home game against Liberty Common.
The one positive from last Friday’s heartbreaker is the Outlaws got to host one last regular season game this week, though they likely will host a four-team regional next weekend.
“I’d rather be on the road,” Sheffield said.
The Outlaws took care of business on Wednesday, winning 70-52, and now will play Sterling in the fifth-place game, Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Weld Central High School.
A win last Friday would have sent them to second-seed Windsor Charter Academy for a semifinal on Wednesday.
Instead they hosted Liberty Common in a consolation semifinal. The other consolation semifinal had Sterling, a quarterfinal loser to top-seed Resurrection Christian, playing Highland, a loser to Strasburg.
All of Saturday’s games will be at Weld Central High School on the edge of Keenesburg, including the third-place game at 4:30 p.m. and the championship at 7:30.
Again, all games in the Patriot League Tournament still are regular season games that count just like all other games toward the final rankings in the 3A index to determine the 32-team regional field. As mentioned above, Yuma likely still will host a regional next weekend. The other nine teams in the 3A and 4A Patriot have been playing in three-team pools over the past week to round out their regular seasons.
Despite losing three straight, and two of their last three at home, the past three Yuma boys games in The Pit have been fantastic contests, including a 68-63 win over Strasburg and a 75-72 loss to Windsor Charter Academy.
It was capped by last Friday’s Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal against 4A University.
It was an entertaining game throughout, well before the crazy final seconds.
Yuma would pull out to a lead of six or seven points, and back would come University.
“Continuously,” Sheffield said.
The Outlaws led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter. University started the second on a 9-2 run for 23-22 lead. Trailing 28-26, the Outlaws scored 11 straight and led 37-30 at halftime.
Jonathan Thomson scored six straight early in the third for a 43-32 lead. However, back came the Bulldogs as Yuma clung to a 54-52 lead heading into the fourth.
The Bulldogs scored five straight for a 61-60 lead midway through the final frame. The Outlaws answered with an 8-0 run for a 68-61 lead. Yuma kept going one-for-two at the charity stripe, but led 71-67. University threw the ball away, Yuma made one more free shot for a 72-67 lead with a little over 5 seconds left.
University made a deep trey to cut it to 72-70. A timeout was called with one second on the clock. The referees put the clock to second seconds.
Inbounding from underneath University’s basket, Yuma threw a deep pass. A University player intercepted it, took one step and launched a shot around Yuma’s 3-point arc. It sailed straight, bounced off the backboard and through the net as the buzzer sounded, setting off a wild University celebration while the Outlaws and their fans stared on in disbelief.
“They were just chucks that went in,” Sheffield said of University’s final two 3-pointers. “We just have to make adjustments and keep moving forward.”
The Bulldogs shot better overall from the floor, including making seven of 17 from deep compared to five of 16 for Yuma. The Outlaws made nine of 15 at the charity stripe, but University was not much better at 8 for 13. University did hold a rebounding advantage, but committed six more turnovers.
Brody Sheffield had 23 points, six rebounds and six assist, Thomson 20 points and 10 rebounds, Alex Pensado 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals, Silas Baucke eight points, and Iann Duran six points and four steals.
Besides the three-game losing streak, the boys program suffered one of its most lopsided losses in years, 66-33 at 3A top-ranked Resurrection Christian last Thursday. The game had been rescheduled from last Tuesday as Yuma did not have school because of the extreme cold.
The delay did not help the Outlaws any as they scored just five points in the first quarter. They kept battling, though, and trailed 26-17 at halftime. However, the Cougars exerted their will with a 40-16 advantage in the second half.
Sheffield noted Resurrection Christian is big and thick, and as a team shoots 40 percent on 3-point shots. The Cougars shot 43.5 percent from deep against Yuma, making 10 of 23, while Yuma made just one of 11.
Sheffield had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, Thomson six points, four rebounds and three assists, Pensado five points and four rebounds, Duran four points, David Covarrubias four points and two rebounds, Baucke two points, Reyli Trejo one point, and Noe Quezada two rebounds.
“There’s a saying that there two kinds of people in the world, those who are humble and those who are about to be humbled,” Sheffield said.