The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“All we can do is be the best we can be”
It’s a mix of good news and bad news for the Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team heading into the 2014-2015 season.
Starting with the good news: Coach Mike Moran is back. Coach Moran came to the Titans basketball program last year with a long history of success coaching teams in Arizona. The hope was that he would turn things around and build a program that could compete in the 2A Southwest League, one of the toughest 2A leagues in the state.
With the help of a high-scoring player in senior Shannon Costello and a solid senior class, the team made inroads in its first year with Moran at the helm. But it takes more than a year to turn things around and Moran was up for the challenge.
Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances pulled Moran from the valley following the season last year and his return hung in the balance.
As the school was looking for a replacement this fall, athletics director Julia Kidd made one last call to Moran to see if he was coming back. It turned out, he was able to return and he can continue what he started last year with the program. In addition, Moran will have Lis Collins back as his assistant coach.
Now the bad news. As mentioned before, the Titans were paced by fresh energy from coach Moran, scoring sensation Costello and solid senior leadership. Well, while Moran is back, the team lost Costello—who led the league in points, steals and assists—as well as seven other seniors.
“We had a really solid team with great character,” says Moran. “They gave me everything they had.”
This year, Moran has 14 players and he got right to work with open gyms three times a week before the official start of the season.
“We started it off working on fundamentals and setting the tone for the season,” says Moran.
They officially opened preseason last week and while there is a lack of experience with just two seniors, there is no shortage of desire. Moran is looking to seniors Ariel Kilpatrick and Courtney Kopf to help bring the young team up to speed.
“They’re bringing a lot back from last year, including some leadership,” says Moran.
The four juniors on the team also have something to carry over from last season.
“I’ve got some kids who got some great work in last year,” says Moran.
Adding fuel to the fire is a group of sophomores and freshmen who may lack experience but have the heart to contribute to the team. Moran will have to lean on some of the new players to jump out of the frying pan and directly into the fire.
“We’ve got some great young players coming in and all of the kids have been giving me everything they’ve got,” says Moran. “I love the attitude.”
They will have their hands full as the team looks to get their feet under them playing in one of the top leagues in the state.
“The league is going to be very tough,” says Moran.
The Titans will open the season on Friday, November 21 in mighty Mt. Olympus with scrimmages against Salida and Cotopaxi at 4 and 6 p.m. They will then head to South Park the next weekend for a preseason tournament.
“We have a long way to go and a lot of work offensively,” says Moran. “We have to play great defense and hang in there. All we can do is be the best we can be.”
