Titan boys split games on two-day road trip

Short bench makes for troubled times

Titans boys coach Robin Loyed put his team’s past two-day road trip this way.
“It was a very interesting weekend,” says Loyed. “It was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.”
The Titans opened the weekend with an emotional win Friday night before getting hit with the perfect storm on Saturday.
The team’s typically deep bench suffered tremendous losses this past week between illnesses, injuries and a handful of other issues. Over the course of the weekend it just got worse, coming to a head when they played Center on Saturday.
They met their potentially biggest challenge of the weekend Friday night in Sanford, taking the floor in front of a raucous hometown crowd.
“The place was just deafening,” says Loyed.
Trading baskets through the first two quarters, the Titans had a slim one-point lead before junior Logan Bland came off the bench to hit a big three-point shot in the closing seconds, giving the Titans a 22-18 lead heading into halftime.
Sanford started to pull away in the third quarter, building a five-point lead before senior Sky Egelhoff buried one from behind the arc, cutting the Sanford lead to two points by the end of the third quarter.
It was still anyone’s game and the two teams went back and forth as the crowd reached a feverish pitch.
Tied 37-37 with three minutes left in the game, Sanford stretched their defense to mid-court, hoping to force turnovers.
Junior point guard Jesse Reeves sliced through the initial pressure to drive to the hoop for a quick lay-up and a 39-37 Titans lead.
Sanford tied it up again and forced a Titans turnover to get the ball back with less than a minute left in regulation.
Egelhoff came up big again, stealing the ensuing inbounds pass and dishing to Reeves for another lay-up and a 41-39 lead.
Sanford set up for a game-tying basket but the shot missed its mark. Egelhoff grabbed the rebound and dished to Reeves, who was immediately fouled. Reeves stepped to the line with a second left and hit both free throws, closing out the 43-39 Titans win.
Senior Jake Grogg posted another double-double, leading the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Anton Peck added in 10 points and six boards, Reeves scored nine points and Egelhoff doled out five assists, while junior Luis Aguirre continued to lead the team defensively with six steals.
“We were thin but the guys stayed on the floor and got the job done,” says Loyed.
Unfortunately, the Titans hit a wall the next day against Center. Earlier this year Crested Butte handled Center easily, beating them 56-31. But the wheels fell of the Titans and Center came into the game with a plan, executing it to near perfection.
“They adjusted and had a nice game plan in place,” says Loyed.
It all started that morning when Aguirre woke up sick and got only sicker as the day wore on. Then, junior Clifford Gibbens hurt his ankle in the JV game, rendering him useless the remainder of the day.
The last big hit to the Titans line-up came in the first minute of the game when Reeves was forced to sit with a strained hamstring.
Loyed was forced to go to his fourth potential point guard, Logan Bland, who, along with many of the other available Titans, had just finished playing an entire junior varsity game.
To make matters worse, with several players called in to play major varsity minutes after a junior varsity game, fatigue became an immediate factor.
Ultimately, the Titans turned the ball over 19 times and shot just 25 percent from the field, falling to Center 38-30. The Titans were so depleted that after Grogg fouled out, they were forced to play the final minute of the game with just four players.
“We were decimated,” says Loyed.
Grogg racked up another double-double though, with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Peck posted his first career double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
“Those two were just giving it all they had,” says Loyed.
In addition, Tshering Sherpa rose to the occasion, putting in a great effort for the varsity after playing almost an entire junior varsity game.
Sherpa finished the game with four points, two assists and seven rebounds.
“He gave us a phenomenal effort,” says Loyed.
The Titans record now stands at 10-2 and they return to mighty Mt. Olympus this Friday, January 28 to host Del Norte. The games start with girls JV at 3:30 p.m. with the first varsity game slated to tip off at 6:30 p.m.
Don’t forget sports fans—there will be another halftime raffle and shooting contest with the cash prize now up to $250 cold hard cash.