The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
5-0 heading into Christmas break
Titans hoops is tearing up the Southern Peaks league with wins over Primero and Mountain Valley this past weekend to remain undefeated in league play.
“That was a challenge,” says Titans coach Robin Loyed. “We knew it was going to be tough.”
The first half was back and forth and extremely physical as the two teams traded baskets through the first two quarters and entered the halftime break tied 30-30.
Fact is, the Titans were lucky to come out of the half so close. After rattling off three key baskets in the first quarter, sophomore point guard Sky Egelhoff had to leave the game with a knee injury.
Furthermore, Primero’s leading scorer, and the top scorer in the state 1A, was penetrating at will. To add insult to injury, the Titans were ice cold from the floor, flustered by Primero’s smothering defense.
Senior Chris Sharpe drained two key three-pointers to keep Crested Butte in the game as they headed into the locker room.
The Titans regrouped at halftime as Loyed reminded them of their defensive roles and looked to seniors Robbie Holleran and John Wright to work hard in the low post, keeping the ball off the floor.
The talk took hold in the Titans game on the court in the third quarter. After giving up four quick points to Primero, the Titans erupted for a 13-0 run to pull ahead 43-34 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Titans built a 13-point lead with three and half minutes left and switched into their four corners offense to hold out the rest of the game.
Primero capitalized on a couple mishaps down the stretch but the Titans remained steady to hold off a Primero comeback and leave the San Luis Valley with a 55-50 win.
Senior John Wright led the Titans with 20 points and 10 rebounds and senior Robbie Holleran dropped in 17 points and pulled down 13 boards.
“The third quarter was the pivotal quarter for us,” says Loyed. “We had a lot of opportunities where we could have just caved in but they kept their poise. It was great to get out of there with a win.”
The Titans returned to Crested Butte to host the Mountain Valley Indians on Saturday, December 20 with a much easier time cruising to a 63-17 win.
The Titans opened the game a bit sleepy having returned from the game the day before at 2:30 a.m. but Wright took it upon himself to fire the team up with two steals and two dunks in the opening eight minutes.
Freshman Anton Peck took note of Wright’s hustle with a one-man show of his own, battling for three offensive rebounds in a row to score giving the Titans a 14-5 lead at the close of the first quarter.
The Titans rallied behind Wright’s efforts to outscore the Indians 28-4 in the second quarter. While Holleran dominated on defense and under the basket on offense Wright was nearly flawless from the perimeter draining shots from anywhere and everywhere on the court.
Holleran closed the half hitting a three-pointer from the corner as the Titans took a 42-9 lead into halftime.
The Titans held Mountain Valley scoreless in the third quarter to build a 57-9 lead with points coming from sophomores Jake Grogg and Henry Linehan as well as more from Wright and Holleran.
Loyed looked to his bench to run the fourth quarter as the Titans cruised to a 63-17 win.
Once again Wright led all scorers with 24 points including hitting 10 of 13 shots from the field. Holleran had 19 points and Grogg dropped in nine points.
The Titans head into the Christmas break on fire and are now ranked fifth in the state.
“We’re right where we want to be,” says Loyed.
The Titans return to the hard court on January 9 for a four-game road stretch. They do not return to Mt. Olympus for a home game until January 19 against Creede.
