High school sports return to action this week

Hoops, hockey coming off holiday break

It has been a painfully long break from league action for both the Wolfpack hockey team and the Titans basketball teams.
Now, with the holiday season finally over, the kids are back at it this week with both the Titans hoops teams and Wolfpack hockey hosting league opponents this weekend.
The Titans basketball teams headed into the holiday break on fire with the girls posting a perfect record and the boys winning five out of six games.
But no matter how hot a team is, five weeks with no games and limited workouts can cool them off quick.

The Lady Titans
“We were looking good and looking like we have the potential to be competitive,” says Titan girls head coach MaryMike Haley. “But coming off this break we’re not going to be in the same shape we were in.”
Practices were limited over the break for a number of reasons. For starters, the high school sports governing body of Colorado prohibits practice for nearly seven days. Throw in the family trips and onset of illnesses and a team can be crippled by inactivity.
“It feels like we’re starting from scratch again,” says Haley. “I really don’t know what to expect.”
Nevertheless, the Titan girls do have a talented squad and Haley believes that with a productive week of practices, they should be ready to host their first league game of the season on Saturday, January 12 against Sargent.
“We’re going to make the best of it and hopefully have a really good week of practice,” says Haley. “I’m optimistic about going into league play. Sargent is tough. In fact, our whole league is tough.”
Tip-off for the girls’ varsity game on Saturday will be at 4 p.m.

The Titan Boys
The Titan boys find themselves in a similar situation with conditioning and intensity being the two biggest issues.
“We’re out of shape,” admits coach Brandin Hamilton. “We had a good week of practice last week and shook the cobwebs off but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Hamilton plans on ramping up the practices this week as they prepare for their first league game of the season.
“We’re hoping to get them back up to speed, re-establish our timing and defensive intensity,” says Hamilton.
The Titan boys will also host Sargent on Saturday, January 12 with their game slated to start at 5:30 p.m.
While the Titans haven’t played a game in five weeks, Sargent has two games this week before they face the Titans.
“Sargent should be good,” says Hamilton. “If we’re healthy and ready, it should be a really good game.”

Wolfpack
The Wolfpack hockey team had the benefit of ice time over the holiday break but it has been three weeks since their last game, when they beat the Gunnison Blades in a non-league sanctioned game.
“They were looking great, very satisfied with their win against Gunnison,” says coach John Mortell. “We’ve had some great workouts and have great momentum heading out of the break.”
They returned to a full league schedule this week playing Gunnison on Wednesday and will host three Front Range teams at Big Mine Ice Arena this weekend.
The Wolfpack open the weekend on Saturday, January 12 at 4:30 p.m. against Arapahoe. The Wolfpack return to the ice that night to face Foothills at 8:30 p.m. and then close the weekend Sunday at 10:45 a.m. against Littleton.
“They’re the three heavy hitters in the league,” says Mortell. “But, I still feel good about our chances. We need to stick to our game plan and run our systems that are in place on offense and defense. If the guys don’t get psyched out, they can do it.”