It is time to get into the thick of the 2025-26 season for the Yuma High School girls basketball team.
The Outlaws are 6-3 after returning from the holiday break last week.
Now they travel to Brush for a 3A Patriot League game on Friday, then return home Saturday to host 4A Eaton.
“These two games are huge for us,” coach Jeremy Robinson said. “Going to Brush will be a big bounce back game for us, and then if we could beat Eaton here that would be huge.”
Yuma is 1-0 in the 3A Patriot, and entered this week No. 4 in the CHSAA 3A Selection & Seeding Index. Brush also entered this week 6-3 and No. 20 prior to playing 2A-power Merino this past Tuesday.
Robinson said the Beetdiggers lost several players from last year’s team, but still is a salty squad that leans on a 6-foot sophomore. Brush has just one senior and one junior on their roster.
“They’ll be ready to play and play hard, so we need to be able to match that,” Robinson said.
Eaton is not as strong as it normally is, entering this week 4-5 and No. 21 in 4A.
“I can’t get a good read on Eaton,” Robinson said, adding though that the Reds do have a player averaging 25 points.
The Outlaws returned from the break with an easy win at Liberty Common earlier last week. (See last week’s edition.)
They then traveled to nearby Akron on Friday, returning home after a long night with a 41-27 win over the scrappy Rams.
Yuma led throughout, but never could pull away from Akron until the final stretch.
“I thought against Akron we played really good defense,” Robinson said. “We weren’t very good on offense, but I have never seen a team shoot very well in that gym. We beat them by 14 with the exact same lineup they had last year.”
The Outlaws made one of six 3-pointers but did shoot 38 percent inside the arc and made 10 of 13 at the charity stripe. Defensively, they came up with 22 steals.
Taryn Sheffield had 14 points, five rebounds and four steals, Berkley Nighswonger eight points and five rebounds, Carolina Ross five points, Bailey Nighswonger four points and five rebounds, Kelyen Quezada four points, Lauren Gonzales two points and five rebounds, Aubrey Black two oints and five steals, and Laisha Loya two points and two rebounds.
Simla came to town last Saturday undefeated and ranked No. 1 in 2A. The Cubs left town the same way, handing Yuma a 67-39 thrashing.
The Outlaws held an early lead, but that quickly evaporated as Simla led 35-10 midway through the second quarter. They continued struggling handling the Cubs’ press as they trailed 46-15 at halftime.
Yuma was more competitive in the second half, actually outscoring Simla 24-21 over the final two quarters.
“We got our teeth kicked in in the first quarter, looked for our teeth in the second, then played better after that,” Robinson said. “They came out in that press and we couldn’t handle it. Sometimes you just get your rear beat.”
Yuma actually shot 42 percent, but took just 33 shots, and did make eight of nine free throws. Simla sank five of six 3-pointers, and forced Yuma into committing 35 turnovers. The Cubs were led in scoring by a freshman, sophomore and junior. They played only one senior, and she finished with six points.
Sheffield had 13 points and four rebounds, Berkley Nighswonger 12 points and three rebounds, Gonzales four points and seven rebounds, Loya four points, Quezada three points and two rebounds, Ross three points and three rebounds, Bailey Nighswonger four rebounds, and Black three assists.