The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We continue to answer the bell”
by Than Acuff
Scoring and handling pressure continue to plague the Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team as they fell to the Sargent Farmers on Friday, December 18, 50-13.
The Titans put up a good fight against the equally strong Ridgway Demons the week before, for the first half, before that game got away from them. Against the Farmers the game unraveled in the second quarter and was over before the end of the first half.
“We went down there and took on the mighty Sargent Farmers and they just beat us,” says coach Mike Moran. “They’re just so much bigger and stronger.”
The first quarter went as well as could be expected against such a dominant opponent. While the Titans struggled to get through the Farmers’ pressure, they managed to find enough space to drop in six points. Meanwhile, the Titans defense did what they could to handle the Farmers’ two big girls inside and held Sargent to 12 to keep the game in check temporarily.
“We were battling like crazy and playing well,” says Moran. “We brawled and played them really hard.”
Eventually, the constant ball pressure rattled the Titans and the Farmers took complete control of the game. Sargent forced the Titans to commit numerous turnovers and outscored Crested Butte 12-0 in the second quarter to take a 24-6 lead into halftime.
“We turned the ball over so much and just couldn’t get into our offense,” says Moran.
While Catherine Washburn answered the call to pick up Sargent’s big threat inside, holding her to 10 points all game, the Farmers were able to find additional ways to score throughout the second half and eventually dropped the Titans 50-13.
“The rest of the team just picked up the slack and that’s how they put us away,” says Moran.
Despite the 0-4 start, Moran continues to be amazed by the tenacity of his team. Beat up and beat down, the Titan girls remain focused on improving and Moran looks to use the holiday break to get his offense going.
“We continue to answer the bell,” says Moran. “No one is quitting. Our defense is good, we’re going to use the break to get in some shooting and try to find some people that can put the ball in the bucket.”
The Titans will return to the San Luis Valley following the Christmas break to take on the Center Vikings and Sanford Indians Friday and Saturday, January 8-9. They do not get their first home game until Friday, January 15 when they host Telluride.
“We’re just going to keep after what we’ve been doing,” says Moran.
