Shamrocks run in sectional tournament ends

After playing their third game in three days, the underdog of the Division IV Section I tournament didn't have anything left in the tank.

No. 8 Yuma Catholic appeared to be a bit sluggish and fell to No. 2 Phoenix Country Day 53-29 at Peoria High School on Thursday night.

“We were just out of gas,” Shamrocks coach Brooks Neumann said. “And Phoenix Country Day is a very, very good team. They could win it all.”

Peter Hurtado led the Shamrocks with 10 points and freshman post Matt Pistone had eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Shamrocks' shots seem a bit off on Thursday and Phoenix Country Day sat into a zone and Yuma Catholic didn't have an answer.

Yuma Catholic's defense kept them in the game in the first half, only trailing 21-11 after two quarters.

“When you hold a team to 21 points in a half you should be ahead, but we were down 10,” Neumann said.

The loss brings an end to an incredible run in the sectional tournament for the Shamrocks. They opened by beating No. 1 Arizona Lutheran 57-56 on a Carter Rodriguez basket at the buzzer on Tuesday. The next day, they easily took care of No. 4 Valley Lutheran 56-43. But against Phoenix Country Day, the Shamrocks were simply worn out.

“It looked like we were a step slow,” Neumann said. “(The Shamrocks) battled and played hard the whole way though.”

The Shamrocks returned home late last night and will hit the road to Prescott this afternoon before they open up the state tournament on Saturday.

“We're happy to be in the state tournament, but now it's a one loss and you're done kind of thing,” Neumann said.