Titan boys drop two to league’s top teams; still looking to states

Gunning for home game in post season

The past weekend was a huge test for the Crested Butte Titans boys’ basketball team with back-to-back games against the top two teams in the Southern Peaks 2A league.
It was a chance for the Titans to shed their shooting and fouling woes and rise to the challenge—and, perchance, pull off a big upset.
And while the team had that goal in mind leading up to the weekend, coach Robin Loyed sensed something different from his team that week.
“I don’t feel we had the confidence we should have had,” says Loyed. “We were ready but we were apprehensive.”
Loyed’s perceived notion of his team’s apprehension proved spot on as free throw shooting, turnovers and fouls rendered the Titans useless on Friday night against the Custer County Bulldogs. Saturday, the Titans started to shed some of their bad habits but not enough to pull off a win over the Sargent Farmers, and thus they finished the weekend with two losses.
Custer County was a handful to say the least, bringing their “A-game” into Mt. Olympus on Friday, February 11. What they gave up to the Titans in height, they more than made up for in precision shooting, especially from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, the Titans brought their “D-game” or even worse. While the team shot a respectable 43 percent from inside the three-point arc, they were dismal from the free throw line, shooting five-for-18 on the night.
“Shooting 27 percent from the line is absolutely staggering,” says Loyed.
To make matters worse they turned the ball over 22 times and put Custer County on the line 38 times.
“Our strength is our defense and when we foul like we fouled on Friday night, they’re shooting free throws with no defense,” says Loyed.
Custer County took a 29-19 lead into the third quarter and started to pull away for good before senior Henry Linehan helped spark a comeback to keep the game within reach until the fourth quarter when the wheels officially fell off.
One last highlight from Crested Butte came early in the fourth quarter when senior Sky Egelhoff hit a three-pointer to keep the Bulldogs to within 10 points. But, Linehan fouled out with six minutes left in the game and Custer County hit 17 of 23 free throws in the fourth quarter to walk away with a 68-38 win.
“It was a forgettable outing,” says Loyed. “It was such a meltdown that I can’t wait to play Custer County again in the post season.”
The Titans switched gears for their next game against the Sargent Farmers on Saturday, February 12 but were haunted once again by poor shooting from the field.
While the Titans limited their turnovers to 13 all game and their typically tough defense held the Farmers to 38 points, the Titans hit just 13 of 48 shots from the field.
“We put ourselves in a position to win but it came down to making shots in the arc and we just couldn’t hit them,” says Loyed.
The Titans pulled to within four points by the end of the third quarter but the two teams spent the first seven of eight total minutes in the fourth quarter playing scoreless basketball.
Ultimately, the Farmers sealed their 38-30 win hitting six-for-six from the free throw line in the final minute of play.
“I liked our effort, poise and patience,” says Loyed. “We’re just struggling to put the ball in the basket. This week will be about shooting, shooting, shooting.”
The Titans can turn the season around in the final two games of the regular season this weekend and set themselves up for a good run in the post season.
They will host Antonito in mighty Mt. Olympus on Friday, February 18 at 7 p.m. and then will head to South Park on Saturday, February 19.
“If we win both we could be the third seed in the district tournament,” says Loyed. “You want to go into the district tournament with some momentum and confidence.”
Furthermore, if they win both games, they will host a district tournament game in Mt. Olympus on Tuesday, February 22. Win that game and the Titans head to the state tournament for the third time in the past four years.
“I really like our chances,” says Loyed. “It’s just a question of, do we play with poise, and patience and make teams play against our defense.”