It was a tough ending for the Yuma High School boys basketball team last Saturday in the Sweet 16 in The Pit.
A 73-72 loss to Colorado Springs Christian ended the Outlaws’ bid of reaching the 3A Great 8 for the fourth straight season.
“It’s pretty tough when you don’t reach goals, and there’s careers ending,” coach Dave Sheffield reflected earlier this week. “The last two weeks were pretty tough with injuries and such.”
Yuma finished with a 19-6 record. The loss ended the high school careers of seniors Brody Sheffield, David Covarrubias, Reyli Trejo, and Noe Quezada. Sheffield leaves after setting program records in career points and single-game scoring, which he did twice during the season.
It all began promising enough last Friday in the regional semifinals as the Outlaws cruised past Lyons 70-33. It was not even as close as the final score indicates.
Alex Pensado went off for 12 points in the first quarter, including two alley-oop layups off passes from Sheffield, who was returning to action after an ankle injury.
Sheffield then opened the second with three straight 3-pointers for a 28-1 lead. The Outlaws led 38-1 before settling for a 42-8 halftime lead. Pensado and Sheffield both had 18 points in the first half.
Everybody got to play in the second half as the Outlaws cruised to the win.
Yuma shot 51 percent, including making seven 3-pointers, and came up with 17 steals while forcing Lyons into 25 turnovers.
Sheffield finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, Pensado 18 points and seven steals, Jose Mario Ross six points, Jalen Rose six points and six assists, Alex Castillo five points, Quezada three points and three rebounds, Covarrubias two and six rebounds, Trejo six rebounds, Chuey Rodriguez three rebounds and three assists, Osvaldo Pensado two points and two steals, Stevie Seward two points, and Braxton Metcalfe two points and two rebounds.
“I thought everything was clicking,” Sheffield said. “We got out in transition and did what we needed to do.
Colorado Springs Christian had rolled past North Fork 74-55, setting up a Sweet 16 showdown Saturday afternoon in The Pit. It was the first meeting ever between the two schools in basketball.
And it turned out to be quite a memorable one.
Covarrubias went off in the first half with a bunch of points as Yuma took the early lead. The Outlaws kept rolling offensively, building a 39-29 lead by halftime
However, the Lions opened the third on an 11-0 run for a 40-39 lead. Yuma regained control after a timeout, building a 51-44 lead. The Lions, though, cut the margin to two, 54-52, by the end of the quarter.
What ensued was a tense back-and-forth over the final eight minutes. The Lions led by as much as four early in the quarter, and stayed in the lead until Pensado scored off of a steal to give Yuma a 65-64 advantage.
Yuma trailed 68-67 when Rose’s corner 3-pointer put Yuma back in front 70-68 with 1 minute, 14 seconds.
The Lions made two free throws with 15.8 seconds left for a 71-70 lead. Sheffield then simply lost the ball off his leg on the inbounds pass, giving possession back to the Lions.
Yuma quickly fouled, the Lions made both free throws, Sheffield attempted a trey as the clock wound down, and Covarrubias put back the rebound at the buzzer for the final one-point margin.
After the shock, the Yuma crowd quickly stood and applauded the Outlaws for their great season while Colorado Springs Christian celebrated with their fans at the other end.
“There were kids that shot above their averages, which is credit to them,” Sheffield said. “I thought the guys did a great job battling with size all year, but we got hurt by that a bit (Saturday).”
The Lions won the game from deep, making 10 of 21 behind the arc (47.6 percent), while Yuma made six of 23. The Outlaws were effective inside the arc, making 23 of 33 2-pointers (69.7 percent).
Sheffield finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals, Pensado 20 points, four steals and three assists, Covarrubias 19 points and seven rebounds, Ross six points, Rose six points, and Trejo three rebounds.