The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We were just out of sync all game”
By Than Acuff
The week started out weird and stayed unsettled for the Crested Butte Titans girls basketball team when they headed into their home game against the Center Vikings on Friday, January 19.
The Titans were scheduled to play one more non-league game against Gunnison on Tuesday of that week before entering league play against Center, but a gas leak forced the school to be evacuated and the Gunnison game was postponed.
Add in the fact that the players were in the midst of finals week and the distractions were piling up. Nevertheless, coach Anna Bressnick had the team preparing specifically for Center and felt things were in pretty good order as they took to the floor Friday evening.
“I knew what to expect, knew they were physical and fast, and we prepped for them all week,” says Bressnick.
Unfortunately, all the prep seemed to disappear over the course of the first quarter. The Titans set up on their first possession and were patient on offense, but Center’s play soon had the Titans off kilter. Center used their press, pace and physical play to frustrate the Titans and build a 9-0 lead. The Titans did find success when they were able to set up and move the ball resulting in a three-pointer from Lola Wais, but Center kept the pedal to the metal. Meanwhile, Center’s physical play lured the Titans into foul trouble with two Titans starters already picking up three fouls each early in the game.
“That’s tough to overcome,” says Bressnick. “That put us behind the 8-ball early.”
Crested Butte did adjust to Center’s press as the second quarter unfolded and started breaking it to get up court and set up their offense resulting in several looks inside as well as a three-pointer from Lexi Pickering and a short jumper from Calla Fenlon.
“We were able to get the ball to the middle and break their press,” says Bressnick.
Annie Collins pulled down a couple of offensive rebounds and scored and Molly Miller had two big blocks, but Center kept pushing, building a 27-12 lead by halftime.
Pickering opened the third quarter with another three-pointer, but the Vikings stepped up their game in all aspects and outscored the Titans 13-5 to build a 41-17 lead going into the fourth quarter, then continued to pull away to finish the Titans 57-20. Pickering led the Titans with eight points while Collins dropped in seven.
“We were just out of sync all game,” says Bressnick. “Sometimes you have those games. We’re going to put that game behind us and learn the lessons we need to learn.”
Bressnick did see some positives though as she felt their help side defense continued to improve and they made the right adjustments when Center switched to a zone defense. The hope is the team moves forward as they continue with three games this week, including a home game on Friday, January 26 when they host the Sargent Farmers at 4:15 p.m.
“We’ve got a busy week,” says Bressnick. “We’re going to make some changes, tweak the offense a little bit so we can put players in the best position possible to succeed.”
