It is going to be fast times for the Yuma High School girls basketball team in the 2021-22 season.
Head coach Jeremy Robinson has implemented an uptempo system this season in an effort to generate more offense. He said so far he likes what he has seen.
“It’s just the buy-in to the full-court man press,” he said earlier this week. “They seem to enjoy flying around. It’s what most of them are built for.”
Several older players were not available when the Indians went to Idalia for a scrimmage last Friday. Still, it was a promising start.
“I was really pleased with our scrimmage,” Robinson said. “They just got after it. It was fun.”
The Indians finished 4-10 last school year in the shorted Season B regular season, 6-11 after a postseason run. Yet, the program still has attracted more than 20 students this season, while many area schools are struggling to field enough players for even a full JV.
In fact, Friday’s season opener in Benkelman, Nebraska, against Dundy County will have just a varsity game on the girls side due to low numbers for the Tigers. Many schools on Yuma’s schedule do not have enough for C-teams, so the YHS C-team often will be playing on separate dates to get in games.
While Yuma struggled at the varsity level last season, many players return to bolster the strength of this year’s team.
Robinson said he plans to use eight to 10 players in the rotation, and the top 10 or 12 could be contributors.
“It doesn’t matter who we put in there, we don’t have much of a drop-off,” Robinson said. “It’s a nice problem to have. The way we play, though, we have to learn how not to foul.”
Among those vying for varsity playing time are seniors Sam Wells, Meidi Reyes, Josselyn Munoz and Kinley Eyring. Others in the mix include juniors Lea Richardson, Hailey Eyring, Lyndsey Mekelburg, and Liddy Day, sophomores Emma Rayl, Caddis Robinson, Ashley Ibanez and Jailyn Mekelburg, and freshman Jade Lungwitz.
After opening against Dundy County on Friday, the Indians host Wray for their home opener Saturday afternoon. (There will be C, JV and Varsity games against Wray.)
“I am hoping Dundy County will be a good season opener for us,” Robinson said. “Hopefully, we’ll get the kinks worked out on Friday, and get something together for Saturday, because Wray will be tough.”
In fact, the whole season will be challenging for the Indians, who will play several teams who are ranked in the preseason polls even before the Christmas break.
“We just have to buckle down and be ready to play every night,” Robinson said. “With the style we’re playing, we hope to stick around and maybe in the fourth quarter we put ourselves in a position to win.
“I’ve been really pleased with the way they’ve brought into it.”
