The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“They’re starting to grow into their roles”
The Titans boys’ basketball coach, Brandin Hamilton, knew from the start of the season he would be asking a lot from his players. Those with any varsity experience would need to bring their game up to learn new roles as varsity starters. The rest are young and would be asked to step onto the varsity court from day one.
Hamilton got a glimpse of how his players would react to the new environment two weeks ago with some preseason scrimmages.
“I discovered that we’re pretty good at passing, unselfish and hard-working but we’re still learning when to shoot and to have the confidence to shoot,” says Hamilton.
Last weekend, the Titans headed to Leadville for the annual Lake County Invitational, giving the team two more doses of experience at the varsity level.
Over the years the Titans have seen a variety of success in Leadville, winning the tournament last year. This time around, with a relatively green starting line-up and bench, the Titans fell short, losing both games. Nevertheless, Hamilton did see significant improvement since the scrimmages a week prior.
The Titans opened the tournament against Gilpin County on Friday, December 6. While the Titans defense was intact and they ran their offense much better than the week before, ice cold shooting plagued the Titans all four quarters.
“We executed our offense pretty well and did a nice job getting shots where we wanted them,” says Hamilton.
Unfortunately, when you shoot 25 percent from the field as a team, it’s hard to win the game.
The Titans defense did their job in holding Gilpin County but the difference came in the final stretch of the fourth quarter when Gilpin County hit a three-pointer to take a lead and then finished it off with a couple of free throws down the stretch, handing Crested Butte a 33-28 loss.
Junior Quinn Winter led the team with 11 points and eight rebounds and freshman David Wasinger proved himself as a lock-down defender and a force in the paint with nine boards.
“It really could have gone either way,” says Hamilton. “We did hold them defensively, which was a good start.”
The Titans returned to the hard court Saturday morning to face host team Lake County. Lake County opened with a zone defense and the Titans immediately attacked inside but their shooting woes continued to plague them as they stumbled through the first quarter scoreless.
The Titans broke the ice in the second quarter to score seven points and, had it not been for their work on defense, the game could have been much worse early on.
“Our defense kept us in the game in the first half,” says Hamilton. “The energy was high and they were getting back to break up Lake County, who likes to run.”
The Titans started draining shots from the perimeter to rattle off 19 points in the third quarter alone. Senior Grant Johnson drained a couple from behind the three-point line, senior Joe Hayes hit a three as well and the Titans built a 25-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Titans then fell back into old habits in the fourth quarter abandoning what had worked so well in the third. As Lake County stepped out to shut off the skip passes and open looks, the Titans froze on offense.
Lake County built a three-point lead late in the quarter before Wasinger hit a three-point shot and after a minute of missed opportunities, the two teams headed into overtime.
Nerves got the best of the Titans in overtime as they eventually fell 33-31 to Lake County.
“Overall they just got tight,” says Hamilton. “It was a good experience for them, though. They’re starting to grow into their roles and they’re right where I hoped they would be at this point. It’s going to be a step-by-step process.”
The Titans head to Ridgway this Friday, December 13 and then play their first home game of the season in mighty Mt. Olympus against the Telluride Miners on Friday, December 20.
