The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We played pretty good at times”
The holiday season can bring sports programs to their knees, with limited practices available and kids missing due to family trips.
Lady Titans basketball head coach Mike Moran saw some of that energy over this past break as planned workouts drew somewhat limited participation.
“We didn’t have very good practices over the holiday,” says Moran.
Once back in school, the Lady Titans managed to refocus as a team but held only two practices prior to their first after-break game against Creede.
“All we did was try to keep it simple and work on things that are important to the game of basketball,” says Moran.
While Moran admits his team did not put the strongest effort on the court in Creede, committing 20 turnovers, they did come away with a 30-20 win.
Senior Shannon Costello led the team with 10 points and senior Suzanna Dumas was the core of the Lady Titans’ success, with seven points and 12 rebounds.
“We played pretty good at times,” says Moran. “I’ll take a 10-point win on the road after the Christmas break anytime. Overall, I was pleased with the effort.”
The team had one more practice before hitting the road again on Saturday, January 11 to play the Sargent Farmers, one of several powerful programs from the league.
The game opened as so many have in the past, as the Farmers jumped out to 17-5 lead in the first quarter.
“They had a flex cut that caused us some problems and were scoring all of their points on us inside,” says Moran.
Adding insult to injury, the Lady Titans started rushing on offense to try to make up the difference, resulting in poor shooting and continued troubles with turnovers.
“We just started running and shooting poorly,” says Moran.
Down 15 points at halftime, Moran used the break to inspire his team rather than pick out the minutia that led to their deficit.
“I just challenged them at halftime,” says Moran.
The Lady Titans responded to the call to action. In addition to continued hustle up and down the court, Costello turned hot from the perimeter and the Lady Titans proceeded to chip away at the Farmers’ lead.
Unfortunately, turnovers continued to plague the Lady Titans, and while they cut the lead down to four points in the fourth quarter, they failed to finish the comeback, falling 40-36.
Costello led the Lady Titans scoring 29 points, followed by senior Elizabeth Kilpatrick with five points and nine rebounds.
“I was really happy with the effort,” says Moran. “We just dug too deep a hole in the first half. We’re just turning the ball over way too much. Technically, we have a lot of work to do.”
The Lady Titans will return home this week for their second home game of the season when they host the Center Vikings on Friday, January 17 in mighty Mt. Olympus. Games start at 3:30 p.m.
“We’ve played five of our first six games on the road, which is tough for a team running new systems,” says Moran. “I’m hoping we’ll come back home and tighten things up.”
