The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Prepare for league play
After suffering a handful of big losses in early-season non-league match ups, the Lady Titans saw the other side of things when they hosted the Creede Lady Miners on Monday, December 12 in mighty Mt. Olympus.
Granted, Creede is not the strongest program in the state but a win is a win and coach MaryMike Haley liked what she saw out of her starters as well as her bench.
“We’ve been working on protecting the ball and when the starters were out there, they did a good job,” says Haley. “They executed the press well and the younger girls got some experience in a game they felt comfortable in.”
The Lady Titans opened the game with a full court press pushing the pace of the game up and down the court. The pressure flustered Creede and the Lady Titans took advantage of the situation led by junior Maddie Stichter and senior Toni Brown.
Stichter rattled off eight first quarter points and Brown lit it up from the perimeter scoring nine, including draining two from behind the three-point arc, as Crested Butte built an 18-0 lead.
Stichter and Brown continued to lead the charge in the second quarter, getting some support from the sophomores as Maddie Talbot, Suzanna Dumas and Monika Olesen also chipped in as Crested Butte took a 37-3 lead into halftime.
“Monika and Suzanna definitely figured out that they know how to play basketball,” says Haley.
Haley turned to additional sophomores to close the game out in the third and fourth quarters, and Lindsay Kopf joined Olesen in maintaining Crested Butte’s intensity.
Both players worked the perimeter on offense and defense, bringing their intensity from the ice to the court.
Creede adjusted to work the ball inside for some fourth-quarter points but the game was well out of reach. Kopf put the finishing touches with an offensive rebound and basket to close the 54-21 Lady Titans’ win.
While Haley was obviously happy with the win, the fourth quarter was a bit of a concern for her.
“A lot of times we play to the level of the other team instead of staying consistent with ourselves,” says Haley. “I’ve got some concerns with ball-handling issues and confidence issues.”
Nevertheless, she hopes to build off the win as they head to into a tough non-league tournament in the San Luis Valley December 15-17.
“Overall, I think they played well as a team,” says Haley. “Hopefully, it will give us some confidence going into the tournament in Alamosa.”
The Lady Titans will play Sanford, Buena Vista and Alamosa, teams that all bring a higher level of play than Creede.
“It’s going to be a tough tournament,” says Haley. “We’re going to see the level of play that we will see all season in our league. It’s good we’re getting this in before our league games start.”
The Lady Titans take a break from the action during the Christmas vacation and return to action back in mighty Mt. Olympus when they host Del Norte on Thursday, January 5.
“I feel good about the team overall,” adds Haley. “It’s a good group of kids.”
