The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I had a group of guys on the floor that were working well together”
by Than Acuff
After suffering tough back-to-back losses last week where shooting woes and foul trouble plagued the Crested Butte Titans boys basketball team, the Titans recovered to battle back from an 11-point deficit and take down the Telluride Miners on Saturday, December 15.
The week prior to the ski town showdown had the Titans host Gunnison Tuesday, December 11 for some JV and C team games in an effort to bolster the younger ranks with key game time experience.
“It was purely about getting those younger kids games and playing time,” says coach Brandin Hamilton.
The Tuesday games broke up what coach Hamilton could only call a “strange week of practice.” With the team struggling on offense the past two games, frustration and confidence was creeping into the team’s psyche.
“We had two horrid shooting nights in those games and that shook some kids’ confidence,” says Hamilton. “I wanted to spend the week building continuity, working on keeping the communication positive and working on developing our identity.”
The Titans then headed to Telluride to face the undefeated Miners on Saturday and after the first quarter, it looked like they were right back where they were prior to the workouts last week, falling behind 15-4 in the first quarter.
“When we started off, you could see some uncertainty,” says Hamilton. “We were missing shots but it could have been worse.”
With the game teetering on the edge of getting away from the Titans, Hamilton told his team that it was time to wake up and not worry about the score—and that their offense is such that they can make up the points.
The Titans went immediately to work in the second quarter, paced by the effort of Juneau Barr on offense, the work of Tommy Linehan on defense, a solid team press and a better offensive attack.
“Telluride played a match-up zone and it took us a while to figure out the most comfortable way to attack it,” says Hamilton.
Hamilton had Linehan match up against Telluride’s best player, neutralizing him for the remainder of the game and Barr went on a scoring spree, knocking down 10 points in the second quarter alone. The Titans ended up outscoring Telluride 14-4 in the second quarter to pull within one point at halftime.
“Our press rattled them, forcing some turnovers. We did some nice things and just built some confidence,” says Hamilton. “I had a group of guys on the floor that were working well together.”
The Miners came out of the halftime better prepared to handle Crested Butte’s press but the Titans’ efforts on defense and offense helped keep things even. While Telluride did manage to score, the Titans offense set them up to respond with only missed shots, holding them back as they closed the third quarter down 28-26.
“We were looking better but started missing shots again,” says Hamilton. “It was a pretty even quarter.”
While the Titans defense held the Miners scoreless from the perimeter, Telluride started attacking the basket and drawing fouls to score eight points from the free throw line. Fortunately, Crested Butte’s offense had the Miners’ defense spread thin and Crested Butte was able to look inside and outside to generate points.
“We just kept the floor spread and got more and more going,” says Hamilton. “We just started slowly pulling away.”
The Titans tacked on one more aspect to their game as Hamilton switched to a new press, keeping the Miners off balance and under pressure. The Titans took the lead and then continued pushing, eventually closing out the 44-37 win. Barr led the team with 16 points and Josh Merck and Linehan worked hard in the paint grabbing rebounds.
“Once we went to a man press, that wore them down,” says Hamilton. “We just took over in the fourth quarter. It was a good game for us defensively and we made nice adjustments as the game wore on and built some confidence.”
Crested Butte played Lake County on Tuesday, December 18 in Leadville and then will host Ridgway in mighty Mt. Olympus on Thursday, December 20. Tip-off for the varsity is at 7 p.m.
“They’re going to be tough games but winnable,” says Hamilton.
