Defense paces Titan boys’ hoopsters to three wins

Who wants to win $150 dollars?

The foundation is in place for the Titans boys’ basketball team to succeed on the hard court this season. And after one week of play, they have a 3-1 record, including winning their home opener Tuesday night in mighty Mt. Olympus.
A combination of returning starters and head coach Robin Loyed is a great place to start. Add in a stifling defense and the team is poised for a solid run in its inaugural season in the 2A Southern Peaks league.
But it’s not all roses as the opening week of games also exposed a couple key issues that need to be remedied prior to the start of league play—turnovers and execution on offense.
“When you play defense like we play defense, you’re in every game,” says Loyed. “We can be a very competitive team if we can just get past ourselves.”
Case in point, the Titans three-game stretch at the Lake County Tournament December 3-4.
While the Titans held opponents to an average of 34 points per game, and came out of the weekend winning two out of three games, they also averaged 24 turnovers per game.
It all started with Battle Mountain on Friday night, as the Titans took a 21-14 lead into halftime paced by outstanding defense.
But when push came to shove, the Titans turnover woes took hold and they found themselves in a battle down the stretch.
Senior Sky Egelhoff drained a buzzer-beater to tie the game and send it into overtime, but Battle Mountain dominated the extra time to rattle off nine unanswered points and hand the Titans a 53-44 loss.
“It got away from us in overtime,” says Loyed. “That was a bitter defeat.”
The Titans turnovers and impatience on offense carried over into their second game of the tournament against Gilpin County.
The Titans fell behind 21-17 at the half, and continued to struggle through the third quarter trailing 26-24 with one quarter left to play.
“I was just pulling my hair out,” admits Loyed. “We just could not slow down on offense.”
Then, out of nowhere, the Titans switched gears. While their defense was still firmly in place, the offense started to click and they scored 27 points in the final eight minutes to run away with a 51-32 win.
“The guys erupted,” says Loyed. “That was a glimpse of what we are capable of.”
The Titans closed the tournament against host team Lake County. While turnovers continued to plague Crested Butte, they opened the game with a suffocating defense that never let up all four quarters.
“The guys came out and played stifling defense,” explains Loyed. “Our half-court trap was awesome.”
Crested Butte built an 11-point lead by halftime and carried it through the third quarter, eventually closing with a 38-20 win.
Junior Anton Peck was a scoring machine all weekend, and closed the tournament scoring 17 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Senior Jake Grogg finished the game with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Grogg, Peck and senior Max Molitor combined to shut down the low post all weekend, while the guards smothered the three-point shooters, holding opponents to three from behind the arc all tournament.
“Our team defense was just outstanding,” says Loyed.
The Titans returned home with plenty to work on, as they prepared for their home opener at mighty Mt. Olympus against the Center Vikings on Tuesday, December 7.
The home opener was a prestigious event to say the least. With a good size crowd for a Tuesday night and a halftime show to boot, the pressure was on for the Titans to show their fans what they can do.
For the most part, they did, giving both coaches and fans another glimpse of just what they can do.
The two teams stumbled through the first quarter, but Peck and Grogg connected for four points each to give the Titans an early lead.
The second quarter proceeded just like the first with both teams struggling to score. Three minutes passed by before Peck pulled up for an eight-foot jump shot, and Grogg slipped through traffic for two more.
Senior Henry Linehan buried a jump shot from the top of the key and followed up with a steal and lay up, and the Titans were on top 18-8 with a minute left in the half.
Sophomore Jesse Reeves provided the final spark for the Titans, closing the half with an end-to-end run as well as an assist to Molitor, giving Crested Butte a 24-10 lead at the half.
At this point, the spectacle, yours truly, hit the floor for another halftime extravaganza.
During the Lady Titans game, I took to the hardwood to raffle off gift certificates to both the Teocalli Tamale and the Gourmet Noodle to the fans.
This time, I had more of the same for the loyal Titan supporters and then some.
Mike Molitor, father of Titan senior Max, was picked from the crowd and came down for a shot, three shots actually, at $150 cold-hard cash.
All he needed to do was sink a lay up, a free throw and a three-pointer in the span of 24 seconds.
It took four tries, but Molitor dropped in the lay up and the free throw and was one bucket away from payday with just seconds remaining. His three-point attempt at the buzzer dinged off the rim leaving him one shot shy of the $150, but he didn’t walk away empty-handed, as the Colorado FreeSkier threw in a hoodie as a consolation prize.
The money rolls over to the next home game on January 8 with an additional $50 thrown in but you got to be there for a shot at $200.
With that done, the Titans returned to the floor and proved just what they can do when they combine their stout defense with a patient offense.
Junior Luis Aguirre led the Titans on defense with three steals in the third quarter alone, and the offense converted on nearly every possession, outscoring Center 16-2 in the third quarter to pull ahead 40-12.
Center put up a fight in the fourth quarter but the damage was done, and Peck and Grogg closed the game the way they opened it, scoring eight of the Titans final ten points for the 56-31 win.
“It’s all about execution with us and they did a better job in this game,” says Loyed.
Peck led all scorers hitting 10 of 11 shots for a total of 20 points. Grogg put together a double-double scoring 16 points and pulling down 13 boards, Aguirre finished with seven steals and Reeves came off the bench to score four points and dish out five assists.
“Overall, it was a nice win for the team,” says Loyed. “We really wanted to christen the new gym with a win.”
The Titans hit the road for a tournament before the Christmas break and then host Lake County on January 8.
Don’t forget sports fans, $200 will be up for grabs, as well as more raffle prizes from the Teocalli Tamale, the Gourmet Noodle and maybe more.