The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We’re putting whole games together”
[ by Than Acuff ]The Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team won two more league games last weekend and are in the mix with Del Norte and Sanford at the top of the league standings with a record of 3-0 in league play, 8-3 overall.
They headed to Sargent to face the Farmers on Friday, January 27, a team that has had the Titan’s number for a long time.
“Looking at stats, I haven’t seen that we’ve beaten Sargent in the last 15 years,” says coach Amanda Reynolds.
Well, the Farmers’ hold on the Titans ended as Crested Butte edged out a 36-30 win over Sargent.
Reynolds likes to press early in games if she feels it can be successful and she did that against Sargent to help pace the Titans to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter.
“We’ve been coming out really strong in the last few games,” says Reynolds.
Sargent recovered in the second quarter to climb back into the game getting the ball into their post player to pull within two points of the Titans at halftime.
Adjustments were made at halftime with Blakeley Reynolds designated to shut down their top scoring point guard and to prevent the ball from getting into the post. The Farmers continued to surge though at one point building a six-point lead, but the Titans battled back to reel the Farmers back in. Crested Butte then started to gain an edge, but the Farmers held the Titans in check throughout the fourth quarter.
“Just when I thought we were pulling away, they would answer,“ says Amanda.
The Titans eventually sealed the win down the stretch from the free throw line as Blakeley hit three of four free throws to help seal the 36-30 win.
“The depth of our bench is allowing us to battle better,” says Amanda. “We’re putting whole games together. It was a big win.”
Crested Butte returned home to host Trinidad on Saturday, January 28 and went to their press early on once again. The plan paid off again as the Titans held Trinidad scoreless through the first six minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Lexi Pickering opened the game with a three-pointer and knocked down two more deep jumpers while additional baskets from Leigh Harpel and Mara Pennie paced the Titans to a 13-0 lead.
Trinidad climbed back into the game with a couple of three-pointers but with Annie Collins and Molly Miller each dominating the boards, and the Titans still producing on offense, Crested Butte carried a 26-12 lead into halftime.
Miller, Collins and Blakeley all continued to produce on offense as Crested Butte built a 34-16 lead five minutes into the third quarter. Trinidad made one last push to try and close the gap but rebounding and patience on offense held them off and when Miller picked off a pass and ran the length of the court for a lay-up, the Titans were back on top by 20 points and finished the game off with a 46-28 win. Collins led the team with a double-double scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, Pickering scored nine and Miller dropped in eight points with additional buckets coming from four other Titans. The team recorded 50 rebounds total in the game.
“We’ve been stressing rebounding because that’s really important to me and they’re feeling what it means to be successful by rebounding,” says Amanda. “We’re doing the things that allow teams to win.”
Crested Butte has their next big challenge of the season coming up this Friday as they host the Sanford Indians on Friday, February 3, tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
“That will be a big game,” says Amanda. “It really does depend on our mindset. Sanford has been so good for so long. They’re a good team, but so are we. It’s going to be exciting.”
