Titan girls’ basketball continues to gain ground

“You can see the light come on occasionally”

The Crested Butte Titan girls’ basketball team dropped two more league games over the weekend but there is a silver lining: The future.
A hectic week of exams and injuries to key starters Kiara Cottrell and Sydney Buehler left the Titans depleted when they hosted the Del Norte Tigers in Mt. Olympus on Friday, January 23.
“We’re missing them terribly,” says coach Mike Moran.
As a result, the first quarter played out as expected. Paced by two strong post players and a fast-paced transitional game, the Tigers built a 23-2 lead on Crested Butte in the first quarter, with Sydney Petersen providing the lone Titans basket.
“We just do not handle pressure very well and we can’t stop anybody inside,” says coach Mike Moran.
The Titans kept plugging away though, and put together some of their best basketball of the season in the second and third quarters.
Petersen opened the second quarter sinking a 12-foot jumper. Courtney Kopf and Erika Bremer hit three of four free throws and Ariel Kilpatrick battled hard in the paint against Del Norte’s post players to grab rebounds whenever possible. Izzie Dethloff hit a jumper under pressure and the high point of the quarter came when Katherine Washburn grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the closing minute of the half, leaving the Titans down 36-11 at halftime.
“You can see the light come on occasionally,” says Moran. “We are definitely moving the ball better, but we’re still struggling with our shooting.”
Crested Butte continued to gain ground in the third quarter, opening with a basket while their defense tightened up. The effort allowed the Titans to get set up on offense and run their plays accordingly. The pay-off came in a number of Titans baskets. Tara Mortell found a seam backdoor for a quick two points and Courtney Kopf banged in an eight-foot jumper off the glass before Del Norte caught fire again as the Tigers went on an 8-0 scoring run, forcing Moran to call a timeout.
The Tigers continued to push the pace through the remainder of the game while Moran focused on getting all of his players into the game to get everyone key experience at the varsity level.
“Everyone’s getting minutes in varsity games,” explains Moran.
 Del Norte ended up finishing off the Titans 68-18.
“There’s no doubt that we’re getting better and you do see those moments,” says Moran. “We just can’t handle the rock—we’re throwing it away a lot.”
While a 50-point loss stings, there was a silver lining and the Titans were focused on making further strides the next day on the road against the Center Vikings.
While Moran continues to see “incremental” steps by his players, Center was amped-up to give their fans a show and handed the Titans a 57-14 loss.
“Center was coming off a 40-point loss and they were looking for someone to punish,” says Moran. “They shot the ball really well.”
Still, Moran continues to get his players time in each game, with their focus on the future.
“It’s not from a lack of desire, will or commitment. We are who we are,” says Moran.
The Titans will get Buehler and Cottrell back for their next match-up against Sargent, in Sargent, on Friday, January 30.
“Sargent is really tough and they don’t take any prisoners,” says Moran. “We just have to be mentally tough. The highlights are few and far between but they’re coming. We just want to come into next year with a much-improved team.”