The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Work in progress continues
by Than Acuff
Two more tough teams meant two more losses for the Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team this past weekend as they fell to Cotopaxi on the road and Sargent here at home.
Coach Vaden Holmes had an idea of what they were up against when they headed to Cotopaxi and planned accordingly. Unfortunately, Cotopaxi brought more than expected to the game on Friday, January 25.
“I knew they had some real height,” says Holmes. “But I underestimated their speed. They definitely had a couple of guards who were faster than anticipated.”
That mix of height and speed made for some big trouble for Crested Butte from the opening tip-off. Cotopaxi jumped out to a 20-4 lead in the first quarter and kept pushing through the third quarter before easing off the throttle and cruising to a 66-20 win.
“We were just all out of sorts to begin with,” says Holmes.
The Titans returned home to more familiar territory for their game against the Sargent Farmers on Saturday, January 26. In addition, the team was able to run through their usual pre-game warm-up and came into the game far better prepared.
“When we went into that game we had more of the same routine and we were just more ready,” says Holmes.
The difference between the Titans of Friday and the Titans on Saturday was astounding, as they matched up with the typically overpowering Farmers team through the opening quarter, down just 12-10.
“We were rebounding pretty hard, made the effort to put the ball back up after the rebound and we were shooting the ball,” says Holmes. “I was able to throw in a man-to-man defense too and that had a lot to do with holding Sargent for a little while. Things were falling into place.”
The team took a hit though, as Madison Pankey suffered an injury and had to come out of the game. The Farmers started to pull away with an 18-0 run for a 28-10 lead at halftime.
Pankey returned to the floor in the second half and had an immediate impact, opening the third quarter with a steal and lay-up. Siena Truex came up with a huge block and Sophia Truex sliced through traffic to score, showing a little more of the Titans’ potential.
But the Farmers are far too strong with a deep bench to succumb to the Crested Butte attack and they continued to find success on offense to maintain their comfortable lead and eventually take the 58-20 win. Siena led the Titans with 10 points in the game.
“Going from competing with a team for one quarter to finishing a game is going to take a while,” says Holmes. “We’re getting there but we’re not quite there yet.”
The Titans have two games this week, including a rematch with Sanford, in Sanford, on Saturday, February 2.
“Basically I want them to play better than we did the first time we played these teams,” says Holmes. “I do expect the mistakes we made in the first games we played them to be fixed.”
