YC boys win again; Kofa, Cibola lose

The Yuma Catholic boys basketball team is proving that its seed isn't anything but a number.

The No. 8 Shamrocks topped the No. 4 Valley Lutheran 57-43 on Wednesday at the Division IV Section I tournament.

The Shamrocks were dominant from the start, taking a 20-5 lead after the first quarter — and they never looked back.

“We played probably the best game we've played all year,” YC coach Brooks Neumann said. “We played good last night so I was a little worried going into tonight about having a little letdown. But boy, we didn't.”

The Shamrocks knocked off the No. 1-seeded Arizona Lutheran 57-56 on Tuesday night to secure their spot in the state tournament.

Peter Hurtado led YC with 20 points and eight assists. Carter Rodriguez put up 11 points and seven assists, and Matt Pistone had 13 rebounds for the Shamrocks.

“I didn't know how good we were going to be because we have so many young kids,” Neumann said. “I'll tell you right now, we're as good as anybody.”

Yuma Catholic will face No. 2 Phoenix Country Day at 7 p.m. today for the Division IV Section I championship.

“Phoenix Country Day is a team that I thought would be the best team in our whole division in the state,” Neumann said. “It'll be a good barometer for us to play them to see where we're at as far the whole state.”

North knocks Cibola out of sectionals

Things looked good for Cibola at halftime. The Raiders trailed North 28-27 — then things got ugly.

No. 5 North topped No. 4 Cibola 61-54 on Wednesday at the Division I Section I tournament.

“They (North) came out in the second half and knocked down three 3-pointers right in a row,” Cibola coach Tim Keller said. “We just couldn't get much closer than three or fours at any given time in the game.

“They just went on a big minute-and-a-half spurt. That was pretty much the difference in the game.”

Stevie Mitchell led the Raiders with 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jordan Mitchell had 16 points and six assists.

Keller said that travel may have played a part in the way his team played against North.

“We knew we could've played a little bit better, we didn't execute as well as we would've like to. The bad part of it is that we're actually the home team and we're the ones traveling three hours. They're the visiting team and they have to travel 15 minutes. That makes a big difference when you have to play games like that.”

Kofa falls to Havasu

The No. 7 Kofa boys basketball team lost its Division I Section I tournament opener 61-42 to Lake Havasu on Wednesday.

Kofa coach Danilo Montialli could not be reached for stats or comment after the game. The score was posted on the AIA website.