First win continues to elude Titan girls

Best game this season—so far

by Than Acuff

Two weeks ago the Titan girls came so close to sealing their first win of the season, losing back-to-back games by a total of four points. This past weekend victory continued to elude the team as they lost to both Del Norte and Center. Nevertheless, amidst the last two losses, the Titans may have played their best quarter of basketball all season, offering yet another glimmer of the future of the young team.

The weekend got off to a rough start as the girls headed to Del Norte to face the Tigers on Friday, January 22. The Tigers are sitting in first place in the Titans’ league and they had little trouble with Crested Butte, cruising to a 55-12 win.

“They were really fast and jumped on us really early,” says coach Mike Moran.

The Titan girls recovered from the punishing loss to then tip-off on Saturday, January 23 in mighty Mt. Olympus against the Center Vikings. The Vikings handed Crested Butte a crushing 58-14 loss earlier in the month and after the first quarter of play, it appeared Center would roll over Crested Butte once again.

While the Titans managed to run their offense efficiently and get nice looks at the basket, their shooting woes continued and Center built a 10-2 lead by the end of the opening quarter.

“That’s kind of our M.O.,” says Moran. “They hit two big threes and we were having trouble shutting that down.”

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Crested Butte found their rhythm on the offensive end of things. Movement off the ball was much better, cuts to the basket much quicker, their press proved troublesome for Center and shooting was spot-on.

Sydney Petersen started it off on the opening possession, cutting off a screen to get a pass for an easy lay-up. The Titan press forced a turnover and Erika Bremer scored on the ensuing steal, was fouled and drained her free throw. Tara Mortell then knocked down a free throw and a six-foot jumper and the game was tied up 10-10 three minutes into the second quarter.

“All of the stuff we’ve been working on started to work,” says Moran. “I knew it was going to show up eventually.”

Center recovered to hit a couple of three-pointers and tried to stop Crested Butte with their press, but the Titans were rolling. Catherine Washburn scored when Crested Butte shredded the Center press, Kiara Cottrell and Petersen were perfect from the free throw line and Mortell slipped backdoor for another easy two as the Titans outscored Center 18-10 in the second quarter to tie the game 20-20 heading into halftime.

“We made a run and just felt so good about how we were playing,” says Moran. “We’re starting to play some basketball.”

Crested Butte then reverted back to their old habits at the start of the third quarter. Turnovers and poor shooting plagued Crested Butte as Center rebuilt an 11-point lead midway through the third quarter when Moran was forced to call a timeout.

“I told them, ‘We’re hanging in there,’” explained Moran.

The break provided an opportunity for the Titans to regroup and they came out to score the next four points as Washburn scored off a dish from Bremer and Petersen carried the ball coast-to-coast for two more, but a three-pointer from Center provided a quick response and the Vikings held their 11-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Titans carried their energy into the fourth quarter, tasting a chance at an upset win. Bremer drained a big three-pointer, the Titans knocked down three more free throws and when Mortell hit a 14-foot jumper, Crested Butte was within striking distance, forcing the Center coach to call a timeout.

The Titans continued to push the pace, coming out of the timeout and pulled to within six points with two minutes left when the Vikings coach pulled back into a stall offense, forcing Crested Butte to foul. The Vikings hit the free throws they needed down the stretch and escaped with a 52-39 win.

“It was a breakout game for us,” says Moran. “All parts of the game are starting to show up and the senior leadership is just tremendous. They just keep us going and the girls are just so resilient and dedicated. We’re showing some guts.”

Petersen led the Titans with 13 points, followed by Mortell with 12 and Bremer scored six and had five assists. Meanwhile, the Titans finished the game shooting 12 of 15 from the free throw line to help pace them to their biggest offensive output of the season.

They return to Mt. Olympus this Friday, January 29 to host the Sargent Framers. Tip-off for the varsity is at 5 p.m.

“I’m looking forward to another great challenge with Sargent,” says Moran. “It’s going to be another tough test for us.”