Girls basketball struggles in game against Center

Host Del Norte on Friday

by Than Acuff

The wins continue to elude the Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team as they fell to the Center Vikings on Saturday, January 20, 43-13.

The Titans ticked off a couple of wins prior to the holiday break but have fallen shy of their third win as they’ve been battling against league foes week in and week out.

As a young team they’ve already had a lot to overcome and when they traveled to Center, things got a little tougher as they had to play without senior captain Catherine Washburn.

“She’s a well respected leader and you take a hit when that’s taken away,” says coach Vaden Holmes.

As a result, Holmes called on junior captains Kelly Sherman and Siena Truex to lead the team through what turned out to be a tough ride.

“We had a rough game but they definitely filled that leadership role for sure,” says Holmes.

The Titans were overwhelmed by the high-paced Center squad and a below-par effort by Crested Butte left them down 26-5 by halftime.

“We played down below our level and it’s hard to come back from being down 21 points,” says Vaden.

Holmes looked to her bench to get them minutes in the second half and, for the most part, they came through. Center continued to attack in the third quarter building a 40-7 lead by the fourth quarter, but the Titans who were called into action in the second half started to click, scoring six points in the final eight minutes to close out the game.

“That was one of our worst games and Center capitalized on that,” says Holmes. “I played most of my bench in the second half and they definitely stepped up.”

Holmes continued to work with her non-starters as they hosted Lake County for a JV game on Tuesday.

“It was just another game under our belt and a chance for players to get more time,” says Holmes. “We have a lot of inexperienced girls and it helps.”

The Crested Butte girls team will have another tough showdown this Friday, January 26 as they host the Del Norte Tigers in Mt. Olympus. The Tigers are currently second in the Southern Peaks with a record of 4-0 against league opponents, 9-3 overall.

“As long as we play our best and do our best, I’m always happy,” says Holmes. “It’s always good to see teams like Del Norte, it builds us as a team.”

Tip-off for the girls home varsity game is at 5:30 p.m.