It is a whole different time for the Yuma High School girls basketball team.
The Outlaws are in a new league, have a new schedule, and have a somewhat different lineup from the team that finished third in the Class 3A Tournament last March.
“The start of this season is a little different,” head coach Jeremy Robinson said. “We’re playing teams in this first week I don’t know anything about.”
The 2024-25 Outlaws opened this past Tuesday (a rare opening for the program right after Thanksgiving) in The Pit against Sterling, rolling to a 44-25 win.
They travel to Wray on Friday to take on an Eagles’ squad with a new coach that Robinson said he knows nothing about, and hosts Vanguard from Colorado Springs on Saturday afternoon. The last time Yuma and Vanguard played was way back in the 2A quarterfinals a decade ago.
“Usually, we have today (Monday) through Thursday to work on things before we start the season,” Robinson said, but the benefit is we could crisp some things up from Tuesday. When we play Wray it will be there first game, and it will be Vanguard’s first game, so either we’ll be more prepared or worn out.”
Robinson said he is confident in his rotation starting the season. It includes seniors Jade Lungwitz and Alina Moran, juniors Carolina Ross, Bailyn Nighswonger and Lauren Gonzales (who did not play last season), and sophomores Taryn Sheffield, Aubrey Black and Berkley Nighswonger, along with senior Wendy Garcia.
“They all have experience,” Robinson said. “Some younger kids probably will suit up as we move forward.”
The Outlaws now are in the 3A Patriot League. They continued to play in the 1A/2A Lower Platte the past two seasons after joining the revamped 3A field, but now will play mostly a full 3A schedule.
That means a lot of unfamiliarity. Wray and Wiggins are moving up to 3A and will be in the Patriot this season, and Yuma has played Strasburg and Highland frequently in recent years, along with the annually-scheduled Brush Beetdiggers. (Friday’s Wray game will be a non-league tilt.)
However, they don’t have much recent history with the likes of Platte Valley, Resurrection Christian, Windsor Charter, Frontier Academy and Liberty Common.
Patriot play begins after the Christmas break, so Robinson and his staff will have some digital film to study by then.
“It will be a learning curve trying to figure everyone out,” Robinson said.
First, though, the Outlaws have plenty of challenges facing them in December, including McClave and Sidney, Nebraska, next weekend.
Tuesday’s opener started on a down note as Moran suffered a dislocated kneecap in the game’s first minute. The Outlaws adjusted, leading 21-14 at halftime, then put it away in the second half with a 23-11 advantage. Yuma outscored the Tigers 13-4 in the fourth quarter.
Lungwitz had 15 points and six rebounds, Sheffield nine points and three rebounds, Ross eight points and two steals, Berkley Nighswonger four points and three rebounds, Black two points and two steals, Bailey Nighswonger two points and five rebounds, Moran two points, and Gonzalez two points and four rebounds.