Titan Boys fall to Center Vikings in first round of district playoffs

“They came out fired up and had their best quarter of the season”

The Crested Butte Titans boys’ basketball season came to an abrupt end, losing to the Center Vikings in the first round of the post-season on Tuesday, February 24, 50-33. It was a tough pill to swallow as it appeared the Titans were peaking at just the right time heading into the playoffs.
The team had a rough start to the 2014-2015 season as illnesses and injuries left their roster depleted and coach Brandin Hamilton was searching for the right mix of players on the court. They dropped eight of their first nine games and were struggling in their heavily stacked 2A Southern Peaks league.
“That was a blow early on, dealing with injuries and illnesses,” says Hamilton. “That just kept us spinning our wheels. We didn’t get the experience we needed as a cohesive unit and for all of the younger guys it was trial by fire and it was a hot fire.”
While the Titans had the league’s leading scorer and rebounder in senior Quinn Winter, the rest of the team struggled to produce on offense and opponents would double-team or triple-team Winter to shut him down. Meanwhile, heavy full-court pressure proved troublesome for the rest of the young Titans team and the combination proved too steep a hill to climb week-in and week-out.
“They started getting frustrated with themselves,” says Hamilton. “They figured out that if they don’t learn how to handle pressure, they don’t get to play basketball and that was kind of a turning point.”
Once February hit, Crested Butte found their groove as the Titans’ hard work through the first half of the season and a couple of moves by Hamilton to his players’ roles on the court came to fruition, specifically moving sophomore David Wasinger full-time to the point guard spot.
“That adjustment helped spread the focus around,” says Hamilton. “We kept working our inside-out game plan but we were just better at executing it.”
While adjustments to the offense allowed Winter more room to move, balanced scoring from the starting five also opened up the offense. Sophomores Noah Dumas and Jakob Munroe started contributing with Dumas finding his rhythm from the three-point line. Senior Joe Hayes started adding in key buckets and junior John Thies proved he’s more than just height. The cohesion resulted in a big win over Custer County and kicked off a five-game winning streak.
“We were sitting in a precarious position in terms of our confidence,” says Hamilton. “And we went in to Custer County and just hammered them. The guys felt good about it.”
They followed that with their first league win of the season when they beat South Park in mid-February, and then rattled off three more non-league wins heading into their final game of the regular season against 2A powerhouse Sanford, the defending state champions who were 16-0 this year heading into the game.
The Titans came up short against Sanford on the scoreboard but gained more confidence having played well against one of the top teams in the state.
“They beat us but we were in the game,” says Hamilton. “We couldn’t score but they couldn’t really, either. They had to work for every basket.”
The end of the season surge had the Titans lined up for success against Center in the first round of the post-season.
“I think they were right where they needed to be and went in with high expectations,” says Hamilton. “They wanted Center, wanted them bad.”
The Titans offense struggled through the entire first half of the game and the team was down 20-10 at halftime. When Hamilton started to dissect Center’s game, he took one look at his team and saw they were not ready for Xs and Os.
“I looked up and every kid was just staring at me with wide eyes. I could see they were nervous,” says Hamilton.
Hamilton put the pen down and left it to the captains to bring the team’s energy back for the second half, and the team responded.
“They came out fired up and had their best quarter of the season,” says Hamilton.
The Titans outscored Center 16-10 in the third quarter, closing to within one point of Center. They carried their momentum into the fourth quarter and were down by one with four minutes left and Center on their heels.
“You could just tell, we had all of the momentum,” says Hamilton.
Then disaster struck as Center rattled off three baskets in a row to build a seven-point lead. From there, Center resorted to their stall offense and proceeded to seal the Titans’ fate, knocking down free throws to pull away for the 50-33 win and ending the Titans’ season just as they were starting to roll. Winter led all players with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots and finished his prolific season as the league leader in all three categories.
“We finished the season on an upward trajectory. That was the great thing about this group,” says Hamilton. “They were just so hungry to keep improving. I was happy with how far we came, but with a young group every day counts and we definitely lost some time in the beginning.”
Nevertheless, Hamilton looks back on the season as a successful one with his players taking steps toward becoming a basketball team throughout the entire season.
 “I think the season was a success. We endured some challenging moments and some validating moments. Both brought us to a point at the end of the season where we were playing our best basketball,” says Hamilton. “Most important, it was a fun season full of growth. The team really bonded well and they showed in their style of play that they cared a lot about playing for each other.”
While Hamilton will lose Winter and Joe Hayes to graduation this year, he feels the team is ready to make some waves in the 2A Southern Peaks league soon.
“The future is bright,” says Hamilton. “The returning players have tons of potential and are hungry to establish themselves as one of the better programs in our district.”