The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Confidence key for win
After missing three games due to the recent snowstorms, it was inevitable the Lady Titans might be a little rusty when they took the floor against Creede on Friday, December 14.
To make matters worse, they were down a couple of players and one of their two leading scorers, senior Emma Coburn, suffered a sprained ankle during the game.
“I knew we might be in trouble because we didn’t have all of our girls,” says coach MaryMike Haley.
The Lady Titans refused to give the game away easily, though. Each time Creede built a sizeable lead, the Lady Titans would fight back.
The two teams were near even at the end of the first half, but Creede erupted in the third quarter to take a 12-point lead.
The problem came when the Lady Titans keyed their defense on Creede’s leading scorer from the first half. While she was effectively shut down in the third quarter, a new scoring threat emerged for Creede, leaving the Lady Titans befuddled.
“They had a couple girls that could hit from anywhere,” says Haley.
Yet, Crested Butte was far from down as they battled their way back into the game to cut Creede’s lead to one point by the end of the third quarter.
Disaster struck once more in the fourth quarter for the Lady Titans as the Creede defense held them to just four points, sending the Lady Titans back home with a 50-38 loss.
Coburn managed to score 17 points and pull down eight rebounds despite her injury, and junior Emma Vosburg scored 17 points as well, but the rest of the Lady Titans chipped in only four points.
“We just can’t survive like that,” says Haley. “We need offense from more people.”
The Creede loss woke the Lady Titans up for their next game the following day against Cotopaxi. Vosburg led the team with 28 points and 12 steals and Coburn followed with 21 points, but the difference was the rest of the team.
Junior Jessie Frame stepped up her game and played great defense while scoring six points, and sophomore Sydney Loyed netted eight points.
“That makes a big difference when those girls are scoring,” says Haley.
In addition, Haley got a strong defensive performance from junior Maggie Chlipala, who was pulled into a starting role for the Cotopaxi game.
Overall, Haley saw a much more confidant Lady Titans team against Cotopaxi than she saw in the Creede loss.
“A different team showed up,” says Haley. “We were confident. We were hitting shots. Our transition game looked great. They decided they were going to play a lot harder.”
With all cylinders firing, the Lady Titans cruised to a 59-31 win over Cotopaxi and look to close the first half of the season before the Christmas break strong.
“We got some cobwebs out against Creede,” says Haley. “You could tell the difference in their attitude against Cotopaxi.”
