The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Hope to rebound this weekend
When ready, the Lady Titans pose a serious threat to everyone they meet. But when starters are missing due to injury and players are in and out of games mentally, the team suffers.
Basically, the team is walking a fine line between success and suffering.
The Lady Titans found that out this weekend, losing two games in a row to league opponents Center and Sargent.
The team knew it would be a tough road trip without starting-post player Elisabeth Desmarais but looked to shake that off early in the game against the Center Vikings.
Crested Butte held the Vikings close through the first half, falling behind 23-15 but nowhere near out of the game.
“We came out ready to play,” says coach MaryMike Haley.
Unfortunately, the third quarter continued to plague the Lady Titans as they fell further behind and were faced with the daunting task of overcoming a 26-19 deficit toward the end of the third quarter.
“We didn’t show up again until the end of the third quarter,” says Haley.
At which point, the Lady Titans turned it on. They went on an 8-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter and then built a five-point lead with three minutes left in the game.
Then the other Lady Titans team returned to the floor as poor free-throw shooting, turnovers and fouls led to their demise.
Both Shannon Costello and Maddie Stichter fouled out and the team shot a combined 3-for-13 from the stripe, with several misses coming down the stretch.
The Vikings took advantage of the Lady Titans’ troubles to climb back in the game and pull out a 40-39 win in the end.
“Free throws down the stretch just killed us,” says Haley. “We just couldn’t finish.”
Stichter and Ali McGuire led the team with 10 points each, Suzanna Dumas added in seven and Costello finished with six points.
The Lady Titans got back on the bus on Saturday, January 19 to return to the San Luis Valley for a rematch with the Sargent Farmers. Crested Butte lost to Sargent a week before but Haley, and the team, were determined to avenge the loss.
They even had a plan in place, with McGuire handed the task of shutting down Sargent’s three-point specialist who lit up the Lady Titans in the first game.
McGuire answered the call of duty, holding her opponent scoreless all game.
“Ali played great defense all weekend,” says Haley.
It turned out that was the least of the Titans’ worries though, as Sargent exploited the post with Desmarais out of the game.
It also didn’t help that the Lady Titans were still feeling the effects of the tight loss to Center the day before.
“They were exhausted from the Center game—it was a tough loss,” says Haley. “The energy level was just not there the next day.”
The final straw came in the first quarter of the Sargent game. Despite playing good defense and running plays on offense, the Lady Titans struggled to score.
“We couldn’t buy a bucket,” says Haley.
Crested Butte, surprisingly, did come out hot in the third quarter to outscore Sargent and they got quality minutes from both Madeline Pulley and Courtney Kopf off the bench, but the damage was done as they eventually fell 36-17.
The Lady Titans look to rebound this weekend as they head to Cripple Creek for a non-league game on Saturday, January 26 and then to Telluride on Tuesday, January 29 for a non-league showdown with the Lady Miners.
