YC season ends with home playoff loss

 Before the blink the of an eye, the Yuma Catholic boys' basketball team scored seven quick points and seemed to be on the way to a win over Phoenix Christian in a 2A Metro Region quarterfinal Wednesday at YC gym.

But over a stretch much longer than the blink of an eye, the Shamrocks struggled to make shots as the Cougars opened a huge lead and held on for a 55-41 win.

 The Shamrocks (20-7) jumped up 7-2 in the first 1 minute, 39 seconds but scored eight points during the 14:26 as PC (16-9) opened a 27-15 lead to advance to the semifinals against Westwind Prep.

 Yuma Catholic did close the gap to five at the end of the third quarter thanks to four straight points from Austin Rodriguez, but the Cougars needed just 5:16 of the fourth to go on a 12-2 run to seal the win.

 "We closed it down to five just on sheer hustle," Neumann said. "That's the reason we got back in the game. It wasn't because of any great shooting we did - but we got some transition baskets off our steals and stuff. But the seniors gutted it up the last quarter and a half and I'm really happy with the way the season ended. When we got off the floor, our guys were dead tired. And you know what? You can't ask for more than that."

 The Shamrocks shot 16-of-52 from the floor compared to Phoenix Christian's 20-for-42 performance, including 10-of-18 from 6-foot-7 center Daniel Cornelius, who finished with a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds.

 "Our outside shot wasn't going, we couldn't get anything in transition and I thought Phoenix Christian did a good job getting back and that hurt us a lot," Neumann said.

 Ernie Samaniego  was the only Shamrock in double figures, scoring 20. No Shamrock had more than four rebounds while five Cougars had at least that many as they dominated the boards 36-26.

 The win puts an end to a Shamrocks' season in which Matt Inman was suspend down the stretch for violating a team rule.

 "We faced a little bit of controversy at the end of the season but played good at the end," Neumann said. "Shane Valleau came in and gave us a boost for four games. He didn't have a very good shot tonight or a very good game (0-for-7, all 3-pointers), but you know what, hats off to him for stepping in after what little playing time he had early."

Notes: Rodriguez, Rod Ford and Mikey Brazeel led the Shamrocks in rebounding. ... Samaniego had four steals, twice as many as PC had as a team. ... Samaniego was 3-for-5 on 3-pointers, the rest of  Shamrocks were 0-for-12. The Cougars were starting to pull away in the fourth up 46-34 when Samaniego came up with a steal, but was blocked on the layup at the other end. Austin Coniser hit a 3-pointer down the other end to shift the momentum back to Phoenix Christian.