From the Pioneer archives
The frenzy on the floor said it all.
Four years of pent-up frustrations were let loose when the clock finally struck zero, last Saturday in the Class 2A girls basketball championship game in Massari Arena on the CSU-Pueblo campus.
Yuma 55, Paonia 46.
The Yuma players piled on top of each other at midcourt, then, after the hugging was over for the moment, headed over to the delirious student section for a jumping version of the school song.
The victory was the first for the Yuma girls since 1997, and just the second overall in the “modern era.”
It also came after losing the past three championship games.
“When the clock wound down, we all looked at each other and just smiled,” senior Peighton Roth said. “We had finally done it.”
The Indians were ranked No. 1 from start to finish this year. They finished with a 26-game winning streak after opening the season with a home loss to Sterling, which placed third in the 3A tourney in Denver last weekend.
The championship also followed on the heels of the Indians winning the volleyball title last fall.
“It was something we always dreamed about since junior high, maybe even earlier back in grade school,” senior Tara Traphagan said. “I think (the volleyball title) boosted our confidence.”
Yuma opened tourney play early Thursday morning with a quarterfinal showdown against Custer County, an eighth seed in regional that pulled off two upsets to make the Big Show with a 10-12 record.
The game had the look of a mismatch on paper, and it proved to be so on the court, as the Indians cruised to an 86-25 victory.
Roth scored 12 points in the first quarter as the Indians ran out to a 23-8 lead. They led 41-13 at halftime despite making only five of 16 free throws. Custer County made only two baskets in the half, but made nine of 14 from the charity stripe.
Yuma was more active running the floor in the second half, and back-to-back treys by Hixon upped the Indians’ lead to 50 points, 71-21, early in the fourth quarter.
The only black mark on Yuma’s performance was its free-throw shooting, as the Indians made only 10 of 27 (37 percent), which nearly came back to haunt them later in the tournament, but eventually improved enough to seal the championship.
Hixon launched 19 shots from behind the 3-point arc, making seven, finishing with 32 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. Roth knocked down four of 11 3-pointers, finishing with 18 points, seven assists, two re-bounds and two steals. Trap-hagan joined them in double figures with 11 points, and also had seven rebounds and two steals. Cody Robinson had a game-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points, Mallory Noble four points and three rebounds, Taryn Baucke two points and four rebounds, Kenedy Roth knocked down two 3-pointers for six points, Avery Whitehead two points and six rebounds, Chasey Blach one point and two rebounds, Megan Lovell one steal, and Kayla Arvizo one rebound.
“We did everything we wanted to do,” coach Mike Neill said. “Everything went so smoothly for us.”
With that game out the way, the Indians then had about 33 hours before they were back on the court again in the 7 p.m. semifinal, Friday. Yuma had the exact same game schedule last year, and responded with a great effort in knocking off top-seed Peyton in the semifinals. However, after three straight years of superlative semifinal efforts, the Indians seriously struggled Friday against fourth-seed Cedaredge.
The Bruins were determined to play the spoiler this year, and knock off the top seed. The Indians’ did not help their cause by having one of their worse shooting games of the season. They shot 36-percent overall (20-for-55), including 26 percent on 3-pointers (four-for-15) and though the free-throw per-centage improved, it was not great at 47 percent (11-for-23). Yet somehow the Indians found a way to grind out a 55- 50 win.
“The ball just was not bouncing our way,” Neill said. “We just didn’t play well, but I think it was the best thing to happen to us.”
It did not seem so at times during the game, however. Cedaredge did not look particularly impressive in its quarterfinal win over Swink, Thursday. However, the Bruins came ready to play Friday night. They hit a 3-pointer to start the game, and held a slight lead for much of it. With the Indians’ vaunted long-range attack off target, Traphagan kept the Indians in the game in the first half. Trailing 19-15, the senior came up big defensively with great hustle, and offensively as her 15-footer gave Yuma a 22-21 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Bruins, though, rallied for a 27-24 halftime lead.
“We had a talk at halftime that we just had to find a way to win it,” Neill said, “and from then on that’s what they did. You could just see they were going to win it.”
That was not always apparent in the second half, however. Hixon’s patented coast- to-coast layup and a tough left-handed shot by Noble staked Yuma to a 32-29 lead. However, Cedaredge tied it at 34 on a 3-pointer, and two more treys put the Bruins ahead 45-40 late in the third.
The Yuma faithful were getting nervous, but the Indians never panicked.
“We work on that stuff all the time in practice,” Hixon said of tight situations within a game. “We all have played in big games. We know it’s better to stay calm instead of freaking out. We just figured out a way to win as a team.”
The Indians perhaps salvaged their championship quest in the final minute of third, cutting the deficit to one, 45-44, heading into the fourth. Roth, known for her 3-point shooting, instead got to the rim for back-to-back layups to finally give Yuma a 48-47 lead with 4 minutes, 47 seconds left.
“We were just thinking about getting to the rim a couple of times and stop their momentum,” Roth said.
However, the Bruins continued to stalk the Tribe. Yuma led 50-47 but another 3-pointer by the Bruins knotted the score again with 1:53 left. Robinson hit a 2-footer to put Yuma back on top, and the Indians rebounded Cedaredge’s miss on its next possession.
That’s when a critical officials’ call worked out in Yuma’s favor. Cedaredge, trying to foul, was called for an intentional when Hixon went flying to the floor with 28 seconds left. That sent the Cedaredge coach into a verbal tirade. His displeasure did not matter, though, as Hixon hit one of two at the charity stripe, then was fouled again after the Indians inbounded the ball. She hit both this time for a 55-50 lead with 17 seconds left. Cedaredge took a couple of 3-point attempts before the buzzer, but they finally did not fall for the Bruins.
Traphagan stepped up big for the Tribe, scoring a team-high 16 points, along with seven rebounds and three blocks. It appeared throughout the postseason that the senior took a more assertive role.
“I think it just worked out that way,” she said. “Peighton and Logan were getting triple and double teams, so I took that time to step up to help the team.”
Though Yuma made only 11 of 23 free throws, Traphagan made six of eight. Hixon made three of four, all in the final seconds, finishing with 13 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Roth had 13 points and three assists, Robinson seven points and six rebounds, Noble four points and four rebounds, and Baucke two points, five rebounds and three steals.
Having gotten their rough performance out of the way, the Indians faced Paonia in their fourth consecutive state championship game. Paonia had handled Wray in the other semifinal, and the Eagles were another determined bunch as they sought their first state title since 2010. Paonia was in its third straight state tournament, and placed fifth last year after losing to Yuma in the quarterfinals. The Eagles were big and strong, but the Yuma girls were not going to be denied this time.
The teams were close after the first quarter, but the Indians began to pull away in the second. Roth’s 3-pointer and Hixon’s winding layup staked the Indians to a 22-12 lead before settling for a 24-17 advantage at halftime.
Yuma started running into foul trouble in the second half, but kept pounding away at the Eagles. Robinson’s 2-footer froze on the front of the rim before falling through for a 30-21 lead, and Traphagan’s 15-footer put Yuma ahead 34-24 late in the third.
Traphagan picked up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter. The Indians led by nine when she went to the bench and led by seven, 40-33, when she returned with 4:28 left.
Baucke and Robinson both fouled out with less than 2 minutes left, but Mariya Mekelburg and Kenedy Roth came off the bench to help keep things steady.
Paonia pulled to within five, 45-40, with less than 2 minutes left, but the Indians finally regained their free-throw touch. Fittingly, it was Hixon, Roth and Traphagan that made free throws in the final moments to ice the historic victory.
“We just locked down and made them,” Roth said of the free throws.
Yuma shot a respectable 43 percent from the floor. They shot 69 percent at charity stripe, making 18 of 26.
Hixon took only five 3-pointers, making two, but still finished with 27 points and four assists. Roth made one of just three trey attempts, but had 12 points and two assists. Traphagan had 10 points, nine rebounds and two assists, Robinson four points, five rebounds and two steals, Noble two points, four rebounds and two steals, Baucke a big nine rebounds, and Mekelburg three rebounds.
“Everyone stepped up when they needed to,” Neill said. “Our defense in that game was outstanding. They got a lot of rebounds, but they were not getting good looks at the basket on their shots.”
“It kind of hit me after the game that we wouldn’t play together again,” Traphagan said. “It’s kind of sad I won’t be playing basketball anymore, but it was a lot of fun.”
“It was a great way to finish our sports careers and win as one,” Mekelburg said.