The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Enter postseason fifth seed
Once again, the Crested Butte Lady Titans came close to knocking off the Del Norte Tigers, the top team in their league, in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, February 22.
The game finished out a frantic final week of regular season play and left them as the fifth seed in the post-season tournament.
The Lady Titans headed to Del Norte on Saturday. They averaged 46 points per game during two commanding wins over Custer County and Cotopaxi leading up to the game against the Tigers.
Shannon Costello continues to lead the team in scoring, dropping in 19 points in their 45-41 over Custer County and following up with 15 points during the Lady Titans 47-31 win over Cotopaxi.
More important, though, the Lady Titans are getting additional points and rebounds inside from Suzanna Dumas and Elizabeth Kilpatrick.
Dumas scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against Custer County, and Kilpatrick dropped in eight points in their win over Cotopaxi.
With additional scoring coming from Ali McGuire, Courtney Kopf and Monika Olesen picking up at the end of the season, the Lady Titans have put together a more balanced offense to back up their total team defense.
Their game against Cotopaxi Thursday proved to be a showcase of the Lady Titans’ balanced attack. The Lady Titans scrimmaged against Cotopaxi at the start of the season and coach Mike Moran was expecting a battle.
“They were tough in that earlier scrimmage and I expected them to be fast and quick,” says Moran.
In the end, no matter how good Cotopaxi played, the Lady Titans were on fire. Crested Butte jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first quarter with four different Lady Titan players scoring.
Costello started the game with a steal and a bucket and followed up with an assist inside to Kilpatrick for two more.
Kilpatrick’s work on the offensive boards led to four more points from her. Ariel Kilpatrick spun inside to the hoop for two and Dumas closed the opening quarter with a bucket inside.
Moran opened the second quarter with his starting five and after a quick six-point run by the Lady Titans, pulled a majority of them to give additional varsity time to his bench.
The third quarter played out much like the second quarter, with the starters opening up with a 6-2 scoring run to put the Lady Titans on top 35-18. Crested Butte continued their effort through the fourth quarter with a majority of the bench on the floor to finish out the game as the Lady Titans cruised to a 47-31 win.
“We looked like a seasoned basketball team,” says Moran. “I was surprised we handled them as well as we did.”
Crested Butte hit the road on Saturday for their final regular season game gunning for the fourth seed in the post-season. The only problem was the Del Norte Tigers were standing in their way. The Tigers are at the top of the league standings with just one loss all year and had a post-season seed on the line as well. Furthermore, the Lady Titans were missing starter Ali McGuire, who was on the Front Range competing in a state hockey tournament.
Moran had his concerns as well. His team hung tough a week earlier against a similar foe and he was worried that was the Lady Titans’ peak. But once they emerged from the locker room for the game, Moran knew they were ready for more.
“I could see when they came out onto the court, these girls were ready to go,” says Moran.
Del Norte pressed the Lady Titans early, hoping to end the game off the opening tip, but Crested Butte shredded the Tiger press for easy baskets by Kilpatrick and the Tigers backed off.
“That was huge,” says Moran. “The girls executed perfectly and Del Norte pulled out of their press.”
Crested Butte struggled at the free throw line, missing five free throws in the first quarter alone, but still managed to finish the first with a 12-9 lead.
While Del Norte was three deep on their bench, the Lady Titans had just five players to work with the entire game. Nevertheless they stuck with the Tigers and had a 26-24 lead at halftime.
Defense was the name of the game in the third quarter with the two teams scoring a total of nine points and the Lady Titans still holding on with a 31-28 lead, but Del Norte refused to fold. The Tigers stepped to the line several times down the stretch, hitting five free throws to eventually edge out a 39-36 win over Crested Butte.
“There were a couple situations that we didn’t get the best of,” says Moran. “It all came down to the last 30 seconds. We need a little more confidence at the end of the game. It took everything Del Norte had to beat us.”
Crested Butte finished the regular season fifth in the standings with a record of 5-5. They head to Sargent for the first round of the post-season. If they win, they will head to the final four of regional play and then get a bid to the state tournament.
