The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“With a little luck, we should make some noise”
Crested Butte high school basketball is gearing up for the 2011-2012 season with two coaches returning to the fold for both the Lady Titans and the boys’ program.
MaryMike Haley is coming off a one-year sabbatical from coaching, returning to the helm of the Lady Titans team.
“I missed the kids and I missed the game,” says Haley. “It’s fun to be back. It feels good to be in the gym.”
Brandin Hamilton, who spent two years as an assistant with Robin Loyed for the boys and one year as head coach of the Lady Titans last year, will take over the head-coaching job for the boys this season.
Both teams officially took to the court for preseason practices on November 11, although they also spent some time in the gym over the summer to get a jump on the season.
Lady Titans
While Haley coached the Lady Titans to a final four showing at the state tournament during her previous tenure, things are a bit different this time around. For starters, the team moved up a class from 1A to 2A.
Furthermore, when the Lady Titans took to the gym floor for their first week of practice this season, not only was Haley looking at some new faces, but also more faces, 17 to be exact, and some players who had never played the game before.
“To have those numbers is really cool,” says Haley. “It looks good. It’s a really young team but they’re competitive and athletic. A majority of them are just true athletes and they’re picking it up pretty quick.”
Assistant coach Sarah Pernick returns to her role with the team and the two coaches have a core of upperclassmen to rely on as they bring the rest of the team into the fold.
Seniors Toni Brown, Ashlee Reimer and Natalie Bowen are all seasoned veterans and junior Maddie Stichter has two years of consistent varsity time running the offense under her belt.
“They’re tough and they all know the game,” says Haley. “They’re a good foundation for the younger girls.”
Haley is looking to a few underclassmen to fill significant roles as well with sophomores Shannon Costello, Suzanna Dumas, Lindsey Kopf and Ali McGuire all showing promise early.
Haley sees her biggest hurdle this year as size—or rather, lack of size.
“We don’t have a lot of size so we’re going to have to rely on our quickness and defense to stay competitive,” says Haley.
Haley got her first glimpse of the team’s talent in their season-opening scrimmage against Cotopaxi on Saturday and liked what she saw.
“It went really well,” says Haley. “For the short time we’ve been in the gym they executed really well.”
Haley hopes to build off of the team’s work from last year in an effort to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“I’m not changing too much,” explains Haley. “I’ll stick with what they’ve learned.”
The Lady Titans begin the regular season at home in mighty Mt. Olympus when they host Darren Patterson Christian Academy on Wednesday, November 30. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.
Titan boys
Hamilton and assistant coach Bill Thompson have something else in mind for the boys’ team as far as a game plan. While Hamilton plans on utilizing some of the same defensive setups as coach Loyed, he hopes to add some new defensive twists and revamp the offense.
“I’m trying to put in a new system on offense and it’s gonna be tough,” admits Hamilton. “Robin and I were pretty similar defensively. I may put in some different looks. I just like to change things up defensively and keep the other team uncomfortable. But, we need time.”
Hamilton has a solid returning class this season with seniors Luis Aguirre and Anton Peck and junior Jesse Reeves. In addition junior Ryan Costello looks to get more varsity time this year and senior Sean Johnson brings some intangibles to the floor.
“Sean may not fill up the stat sheet but he’s just the guy you want,” says Hamilton.
The team should get a huge shot in the arm from transfer student, junior Kane Hamilton.
Kane adds even more height to the already stout line-up and should bring some serious offensive punch, including some game above the rim and from the three-point line not seen since John Wright.
“He’s a scorer, athletic, but I don’t know what he brings defensively,” says Hamilton. “We’re tall. We’ve got three kids over six-foot-three.”
The boys spent Saturday in Cotopaxi for a preseason scrimmage and came away the better team against an imposing Cotopaxi line-up.
“Cotopaxi was big,” says Hamilton. “We looked like we could score when we wanted. Defensively, we were fishing for an identity.”
With Kane missing the first half of the season due to Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) transfer rules and a couple of players dealing with off the court issues, i.e. injuries, Hamilton is still waiting to find out what kind of team he really has.
“With a little luck, we should make some noise,” says Hamilton. “It’s going to be interesting to see what we can put out on the floor.”
The boys also open the regular season at home on Wednesday, November 30 with a game against Darren Patterson Christian Academy. Tip-off for the boys is 5 p.m.
