Titan girls fall shy of first wins of the season

Back-to-back heartbreakers

Than Acuff

The Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team was so close, oh so close, to winning their first game of the season this past weekend, but both chances slipped away as shooting troubles continued to plague the young team.

The Titans hosted the Telluride Miners on Friday, January 15 in Mt. Olympus and the game opened with a stifling defensive battle from both teams. The Titans’ defense handcuffed the Miners, including shutting down their big girl inside. Meanwhile, Crested Butte struggled to find any open looks in the first eight minutes. The looks they did get, they finished, as Tara Mortell slipped underneath for a bucket and then drained a 12-foot jumper later in the first quarter to help lead the Titans to a one-point lead after one quarter.

Sydney Petersen spent the majority of the first quarter trying to get the Titans offense in motion and then found her groove in the second quarter to knock down a three-pointer and a 14-footer. The Miners responded each time and took a brief lead before Mortell closed the half with a baseline jumper and the Titans held their one-point lead heading into the second half.

The Miners opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run to pull away from the Titans temporarily, but Siena Truex came on to the floor to help spark a comeback for the Titans. Mortell hit another jumper and when the Titans started crashing the boards for second chances, the effort resulted in a 12-foot jumper from Truex to cut the Miners’ lead down to four points.

“We always struggle on the glass and we started doing a better job and we just focused a little more and tightened up things and were able to make a run,” says coach Mike Moran. “That run was an indication of what we’re capable of.”

The Titans opened the fourth quarter with a bucket from Kiara Cottrell and Erika Bremer and when Petersen hit a jump shot, the game was tied back up 22-22 with two minutes left.

But struggles from the free-throw line and missing easy buckets spelled the Titans’ demise and Telluride managed to edge out a 25-24 win.

“We were doing a lot of things but we’re just not shooting the ball well,” says Moran.

The Titans returned to the court on Saturday, January 16 to host the Cripple Creek Pioneers and the strain of the weekend was evident at the start of the game. Moran called on varsity players to suit up for JV games as well, so when the Titans tipped off against Cripple Creek, several players were on their fourth game of the weekend.

The Titans fell behind 9-2 early, with the lone saving grace coming from a three-pointer by Petersen at the buzzer.

“We came out flat and lethargic and were not ready to play, and playing all of those games hurt us overall,” says Moran.

Cripple Creek continued to pressure the Titans on every rebound and handcuffed Crested Butte throughout the second quarter to build a 17-8 lead over Crested Butte by halftime.

Bremer had a traumatic morning crashing her car, but managed to suit up for the game. After being cleared to play, she jumped onto the floor and scored the opening bucket in the second half. But the Pioneers continued to hold off the Titans. Truex rattled off five points in the third quarter, including a three-pointer and Moran switched into a full court press to try to mount a comeback. The Pioneers held off the initial surge to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter but the Titans’ pressure started to pay off.

After scoring off of three turnovers, the Titans were down just four points with four minutes left until Cripple Creek buried a soul-crushing three-pointer and then held on to take the Titans down 31-28.

“We should have won both games this weekend but no such luck,” says Moran. “Small as we are and young as we are, we’re starting to show some development. We’re starting to show some signs of maturity and starting to see what this team will look like in the future.”

Crested Butte has a rough road ahead of them as they head to Del Norte on Friday and will host Center on Saturday, January 23 at 2:30 p.m.

“We have two really tough games this week,” says Moran. “But, I’m looking forward to getting back in those high-pressure games and seeing if we can handle it any better now.”