Titan boys hoops season ends at district tournament

Finish with 14-8 record

First the bad news.
The Crested Butte Titans boys’ basketball 2009-2010 season came to a close last weekend, after they lost back-to-back district tournament games to fall a game short of advancing to regionals.
Now, the good news.
The team is losing just two players to graduation, neither of whom are starters, and saw a surge of talent in the younger players throughout the season that should carry over to next year for a run at the state tournament.
The Titans opened district play against the Creede Miners on Friday, February 26. The Miners are ranked seventh in the state, average more than 60 points per game and tower over their opponents with four seniors in the 6’2” to 6’5” range.
The Titans lost twice during the regular season to the Miners but over the course of the season developed a key strategy to defeating Creede—defense.
The first quarter proved nightmarish for the young Titans team as they failed to shut down Creede on defense while struggling on offense.
“It started off horribly,” says coach Robin Loyed, so much so that the Titans had dug themselves a 10-point hole trailing 13-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Loyed then made a key defensive move calling on junior Jake Grogg to guard senior John Whitmore, Creede’s leading scorer and the top player in the Southern Peaks league.
Grogg’s effort spearheaded a defensive revival by the Titans team as they held Creede to three points in the second quarter and clawed their way back to within four points by halftime.
“Jake was unbelievable,” says Loyed. “He put the cloak on Whitmore the rest of the game.”
Down 16-12 at the half, the Titans were poised to pull off an upset having dictated the pace on the floor.
“It was the game we needed it to be,” says Loyed, “a low-scoring defensive battle.”
The two teams traded baskets in the third quarter as the Titans held Creede close going into the fourth quarter down 22-18.
A free throw from sophomore Anton Peck and a three-pointer by sophomore Luis Aguirre tied the game in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
Freshman Jesse Reeves then stepped to the line to hit both free throws and the Titans had the lead for the first time in the game.
The two teams traded off trips to the free throw line throughout the fourth quarter, the Titans were six of eight from the line down the stretch, and were tied 27-27 with 25 seconds to go.
Creede called a timeout to set up the game winner but the Titans defense left nothing for Creede for 20 seconds until a pass down low found a Miner player on the baseline.
As the Titans shifted to double down on him, he bobbled the pass offering up a brief look at the basket. The Miner player recovered to lob up a four-foot jumper and scored with four seconds as Creede escaped with a 29-27 win.
Peck led the Titans scorers with 10 points. Grogg pulled down five rebounds and picked off four steals while holding Whitmore to just five points through three quarters. Reeves closed the game with the two big free throws, seven rebounds, two steals and no turnovers.
Unfortunately, the Titans’ woes were felt on the offensive side as they shot a mere 19 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc.
“It was a terrific effort,” says Loyed. “It was just great team defense. We had our chances, we just couldn’t seal the deal.”
The Titans still had a chance at advancing to regionals with a game for the final spot on Saturday morning against Primero but the damage was done Friday night.
“They were just crushed,” says Loyed.
The Titans came out flat against Primero falling behind 28-10 by halftime and never recovered.
Loyed benched his starters in the third quarter to wake them up and it worked as they scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, but junior point guard Henry Linehan and Grogg both fouled out early in the fourth and it was too little, too late as they fell 56-35.
Peck led the team with 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals and Aguirre hit three from three-point land for nine points.
Grogg closed his weekend effort with six points and 10 rebounds against Primero.
“It was a tough way to end the season but I’ll remember the game Friday night,” says Loyed. “We have a lot to build on and a great deal of promise. They certainly exceeded my expectations.”