The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I don’t think the score reflects how well they played”
by Than Acuff
The progress report is good for the Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team. While they did just lose another game this past weekend, the team continues to build with each contest and is starting to find their rhythm up and down the court.
They spent Tuesday of last week playing Gunnison’s JV team to keep working on their game rather than focusing on the final score.
“Gunnison always has height so it’s a good game to work on our post-play and our press without worrying about the final score,” says coach Vaden Holmes.
The Gunnison game appeared to have a positive effect on the Titans game as they came into the Telluride contest on Saturday, December 15 far more ready to play than in previous games.
“The girls ran the press better on the weekend because of that Gunnison game,” says Holmes.
Not only that but the Titans started the game far more energized than usual as they traded baskets with the Miners through the first quarter, finishing it off down by just four points.
Crested Butte kept up the effort in the second quarter. While recent games were out of reach by halftime, Crested Butte remained in the mix down just 22-14 heading into halftime.
“Telluride had some height but I feel like we were a lot faster,” says Holmes. “The girls really wanted to beat Telluride and that added a little extra to their play.”
Telluride then turned up the heat in the third quarter. While two Titan starters were busy managing foul trouble and thus handcuffed in their play, the Miners continued to utilize their height advantage, building a 33-16 lead.
“Telluride came out with more fire and because of foul trouble, we played timidly and that hindered us in the third quarter,” explains Holmes.
Still, rather than fold under the pressure and let the game get completely away, Crested Butte kept battling and started trading off baskets again with the Miners. Telluride remained in control though to squash any hopes of a Crested Butte comeback, to win the game 44-28.
“The girls that were in foul trouble just relaxed and played,” says Holmes. “They picked up the aggression and wanted to finish strong.”
Sophia Truex led the Titans with 13 points, followed by Alex Downey scoring six points. Downey led the Titans with 10 rebounds.
“I don’t think the final score reflects how well they played,” says Holmes. “They’re progressing even more with each game.”
The Titans played in Leadville on Tuesday, December 18 and will host Ridgway on Thursday, December 20 in mighty Mt. Olympus at 5:30 p.m.
