The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We knew it would be a dog fight”
It’s been a long, hard season for the Crested Butte Titan boys basketball team. The thought was, come the end of January/beginning of February, the team would be at full strength with a line up that included three starters over six-foot-three, a point guard who scores double digits and another guard who is a monster on defense.
Unfortunately, health issues, among other distractions, continued to plague the Titans into February as they put the close on the regular season and headed into the district tournament.
They opened the final weekend of the regular season on the road in Antonito. Antonito, while near the bottom of the league standings, is never to be overlooked and the Titans were determined to gain some momentum for the post season.
The Titans opened the game firing on all pistons on offense backed by some quality defense to build a 26-13 lead by halftime.
“It was a good half of basketball,” says coach Brandin Hamilton.
Antonito threw a press at the Titans that tripped them up for the third quarter but after a few adjustments, the Titans rallied in the fourth quarter to close with a 47-39 win.
The Titans had their hands full with the Sangre de Cristo Thunderbirds the following day with junior Kane Hamilton still out, junior point guard Jesse Reeves still hampered by injury and senior guard Luis Aguirre just returning to the team from a concussion.
Still, confidence was high heading into the game Saturday night.
“We were feeling pretty good and playing pretty good and I felt if we stayed with them in the first half, anything could happen,” says Brandin.
The Titans took a quick 6-1 lead on a couple of mid-range jumpers from junior Ryan Costello and a basket from senior Anton Peck.
With Costello, Peck and senior Sean Johnson shutting off Sangre’s inside looks, the Thunderbirds looked beyond the three-point arc to do their damage.
Sangre drained three in a row from behind the arc to take a 10-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Johnson keep up the battle inside to score six points in the paint but Sangre’s effort from the perimeter kept their lead intact and the Titans went into the locker room down 24-15.
Four of the starting five Titans put points on the board in the third quarter as Crested Butte chipped away at Sangre’s lead but injuries and foul trouble in the fourth quarter spelled the Titans’ demise.
Once Reeves fouled out and Aguirre went down with an injury, the Titans were short three starters in the fourth quarter and fell to Sangre 47-35.
“I was still really proud of the way they showed up,” says Brandin.
The Titans opened post-season play at home Monday night with a rematch against Antonito. Given the trouble Antonito gave the Titans in their previous game, Brandin and the team knew they couldn’t overlook their first round opponent.
“We knew it would be a dogfight,” says Brandin.
The Titans put together a total team effort in the first quarter with Johnson battling inside, Reeves running the offense and Costello striking from 10 to 14 feet to take a 12-5 lead.
The two teams traded baskets in the second quarter for all eight minutes and the Titans held their seven-point lead by halftime.
Antonito put the screws to the Titans in the third quarter to tie it up 33-33 before the Titans salvaged the game with a couple of late baskets to carry a four-point lead into the fourth.
“Sean kept us in that game. His rebounding was ridiculous,” says Brandin.
Peck and Reeves then went to work drawing fouls and hitting free throws and the Titans pulled away for the 56-50 win to reach the second round of the district tournament.
Reeves led the team with 17 points, Costello scored 16 and Peck returned to double-digit scoring with 13 points.
