The Yuma High School boys basketball team will roll out the ball on a promising 2021-22 season this weekend.
Yuma returns nearly everyone from last season, which ended in the Class 2A semifinals to the eventual state champion.
“I like where we are at going into our season opener,” coach Dave Sheffield said. “Practices have gone very well, and our scrimmage with Highland showed our strengths and weaknesses we need to work on. We have been very cohesive so far, which will pay dividends.”
The Indians open the new campaign Friday against the Dundy County-Stratton Tigers in Benkeman, Nebraska. They went 17-5 last year, losing to Chase County in districts.
“Dundy County is a traditionally strong team,” Sheffield said. “They like to play uptempo and will maintain pressure throughout the game. It will be a great opener for us.”
The Indians then come home Saturday to take on ancient rival Wray in The Pit. The Eagles knocked Yuma out of the postseason last March, and went on to win the boys program’s first-ever state championship.
Wray, which will be playing its season opener Saturday, enters the season ranked No. 2 in Class 2A, with Yuma right behind at No. 3 in the preseason Top 10 (CHSAANow.com polls).
“Wray did lose some strong players, but return a strong group,” Sheffield said. “They have very good size and athleticism that has the ability to cause issues on many levels. They have the ability to press, as well as work in the half-court. This first weekend will be a great test for us.”
The Yuma boys have advanced four straight seasons to the state tournament, winning titles in 2018 and 2019, and advancing to the semifinals the past two seasons. (The 2020 tourney ended after the quarterfinals due to COVID-19 outbreak, so the Tribe never got to play that semifinal.)
It appears the good times will keep coming as Sheffield has said this is probably the deepest team he has ever coached.
“This is a great group. They play well as a team, and for each other,” Sheffield said. “As a coach, they are great to work with. We are very deep this year, and will be able to run a variety of lineups that will give us a lot of versatility.”
Among those in the running to see varsity action are seniors Clay Robinson, Javier Gamboa, Beau Tate, Jaxson Lungwitz, Kobe Rayl and Andre Baucke, along with juniors Javier Duran, Forest Rutledge, Jesus Ross, Jonathan Carillo, Daman Thornton and Cesar Varela.
“With how we are going to play this year, all 12 have strong opportunities for rotational time,” Sheffield said.
Let the fun begin.
