The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Defeat Vail Christian 90-46
The Titan boys’ basketball team exorcised any remaining mid-season malaise with two huge wins Friday and Saturday, February 15 and 16.
It all started Friday night against the Creede Miners. The Miners were ranked eighth in the state when they came into Mt. Olympus on Friday night and would pose a serious test to the Titan squad’s resolve.
Junior John Wright opened the game with a trio of three-pointers, establishing a brief 9-5 Titan lead.
The Miners responded, beating the Titans up the court to open up easy transitional baskets, preventing the Titans from building a sizeable lead.
The Titans built back a five-point lead when Wright followed on a jump shot for the tip-in but Creede rattled off eight points in a row to go up 24-21 midway through the second quarter.
The two teams traded the lead through the remainder of the second quarter until senior Joe Bosshard took the ball the length of the court to score at the buzzer giving the Titans a 31-28 lead heading into halftime.
Coach Robin Loyed looked to senior Will Curry to shut down the Miners’ leading scorer in the third quarter. Curry’s effort against the Miner star inspired a phenomenal defensive effort from the Titans as they outscored Creede 14-4 in the third quarter to build a 13-point lead.
Creede converted a three-point play early in the fourth quarter and threatened, briefly, to mount a late game comeback until junior Robbie Holleran took control.
Holleran responded to Creede’s three-point play with five points in a row, driving to the hole for two and then pulling up from behind the arc to sink a three-pointer.
Holleran’s effort gave the Titans a 16-point lead and Wright closed the game with three more of his team-leading 23 points for a 60-41 win.
Vail Christian rolled into Mt. Olympus the following day, only to suffer a far worse fate than the Miners the day before.
The Titans scored a team-high 90 points led by 21 points from senior and game-day birthday boy Daniel Hargrove coasting to a 90-46 win.
The Titans took a 24-14 lead in the first quarter and proceeded to outscore Vail Christian 48-18 over the course of the second and third quarters putting the game completely out of reach.
Wright followed Hargrove with 19 points while Bosshard and senior Alexei Desmarais scored 15 points each.
The two wins improve the Titans record to 12-4 and get them back on track for the final two games of the regular season. The Titans head to Ridgway to face the Demons on Friday, February 22 and then finish the season at Mt. Olympus on Saturday, February 23 against Debeque at 2:30 p.m.
The post season starts with the District tournament Thursday through Saturday, February 28-March 1 in Delta.
