(Bill Sabo/CSU-Pueblo)
PUEBLO — This season is about unfinished business for the Yuma High School girls basketball team.
A year ago, the Indians lost to Akron in the state title game and now they are on a mission to hoist that gold ball.
Yuma took the first step in reaching that goal Thursday night.
Caitlyn Murphy poured in a career-high 23 points, powering the Indians to a 69-47 win over Simla in a Class 2A first round state playoff game at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.
“I just want us to get to the state championship game, and I want to do everything I can to help my team get there,” said the 5-foot-10 Murphy about what motivated her against Simla. “Last year left a bitter taste in our mouths. We want to get to the state championship game and win. That’s what we worked all summer and all season for to reach that goal.”
Yuma improved to 24-1 and advances to meet Peyton (24-1) in a semifinal game at 4 p.m. today. Simla dropped to 20-5.
“I think it helped that we were here (at the state tournament) last year,” Yuma coach Mike Neill said. “It was a very good game in the first quarter, but we didn’t panic. We played good solid defense and we started getting the ball into our post players and they started scoring and we just did a great job of rebounding.”
Simla led 15-14 after the first quarter, but Yuma regrouped and outscored the Cubs 25-10 in the second quarter. In the decisive second quarter, Murphy and Logan Hixon had eight points each.
Yuma won a state girls basketball championship in 1997, but last year was the first time the Indians played in the state tourney in 15 years.
“We are very hungry,” Neill said about his team’s mindset.
Hixon added 15 points for the Indians, including three treys. Sam Kaatz (14 points) and Mikki Korinek (11) paced Simla in the loss.
Lutheran 54, Paonia 37
Chandler Sturms and Kaleigh Paplow scored 20 and 12 points, respectively, vaulting top-ranked Lutheran to the victory over Eagles.
Lutheran (22-1) used an electric 20-7 third-quarter spurt to pull away from the pesky Eagles.
“We weren’t surprised by Paonia’s effort and their execution,” Lutheran coach Mark Duitsman said. “At half we just thought half of their points came against the press and common sense said just take the press off. We eliminated their easy buckets and made it a half-court game and we extended our lead.”
Paonia’s Morgan Hartigan had a team-high 14 points, while Carson Pipher finished with 10.
Peyton 64, Hoehne 55
The Peyton girls basketball team has a powerful offense and it was on display.
The Panthers had three players in double-figures powering the Panthers to the win.
Shelby Patterson had a game-high 24 points, while Emily Green and Victoria Goodman added 13 and 12 points for Peyton.
The Panthers cruised out to a 36-22 halftime lead and then held off the Farmers in the final 16 minutes. Jordan Trujillo and Aspen Anderson had 13 points each for Hoehne and Cydney Kreutzer chipped in 12.
Meeker 52, Akron 47
Thanks to some clutch free throw shooting in the fourth quarter, Meeker was able to edge Akron.
Meeker outscored Akron 10-6 in the fourth quarter and it made 8-of-11 free throws in the final eight minutes.
Taylor Neilson had a team-high 20 points for Meeker and Sydney Hughes (13) and Piper Haney (10) also contributed to the win.
Jordan Baer and A.J. Miller had 24 and 11 points in Akron’s loss.