The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Return to mighty Mt. Olympus Friday, February 1
It helps to have starting post player and the Chairwoman of the Boards Elisabeth Desmarais on the court—there’s no doubting that.
“It’s always great having her out there,” says coach MaryMike Haley.
Desmarais missed the Lady Titans games two weeks ago with a nagging injury and was still not back to full strength this past weekend. Nevertheless, she was able to play and regained control of the paint, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as the Lady Titans defeated the Cripple Creek Pioneers 47-38.
It didn’t come easy, though. While Desmarais was back, she was missing a teammate inside and starting guard Shannon Costello had to sit for most of the game with an ankle injury.
Fortunately, guard Maddie Stichter was there to help Desmarais with her senior presence on the floor up and down the court and tossing in 12 points in the meantime.
“She did a really good job leading the team,” says Haley.
Furthermore, Elizabeth Kilpatrick thrives with Desmarais inside with her and had a stellar game as well, pulling down 10 rebounds and putting up six points.
Meanwhile, with two starters out most of the game, Haley had to look to her bench for big minutes and they came through as well.
“The bench did a really good job,” says Haley.
Crested Butte showed up to play opening the game with a full court press to help build an 18-6 lead.
They carried their momentum through the second quarter to take a 29-12 lead into halftime but the third quarter woes hit them again.
With two starters out and the bench players losing focus, the team fell into a bit of disarray. The Pioneers managed to cut the Lady Titans’ lead down to five before Crested Butte turned it back around.
Crested Butte retook control of the game for the final quarter, paced by their full court pressure to then pull away for the win.
“We started to fall asleep,” admits Haley. “For about three minutes I was sweating for sure. We have to learn that when the bench comes into play, they’ve got to be ready to play.”
The Lady Titans return home this Friday, February 1 when they host the Sierra Grande Panthers in mighty Mt. Olympus. The games start at 3:30 p.m.
“They’re always tough—we’ll see how it goes,” says Haley.
