The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It was nice to see us finish strong”
By Than Acuff
Once again, the efforts of the team on improving their offense paid off as the Crested Butte Titans girls’ basketball team put up a new season high 45 points, led by Molly Miller with 20, to take down the Hayden Tigers 45-26 on Thursday, January 22. Unfortunately, they ran into the stingy defense of the Trinidad Miners on Saturday to lose 31-25 and then fell to Gunnison on Tuesday, January 27.
Crested Butte jumped out to a 10-4 lead on Hayden in the first quarter as their press handcuffed the Tigers and Rio Crabtree dropped two from three-point land, Summer Martin stole the ball to go the length of the court for a layup as did Miller.
“We have fully embraced the full court press and it’s working pretty well,” says coach Anna Bressinck.
Hayden returned the favor in the second quarter with a press of their own. While the Titans seemed to struggle with the new pressure, Hayden looked to have found the magic touch to outscore Crested Butte 8-3 in the second quarter and pull back within one at halftime.
The game remained tight throughout most of the third quarter with Cecilia Naughton and Lola Wright finding success inside and Miller cutting through traffic for buckets, but they still couldn’t build a gap on Hayden.
“That was an ‘us’ thing,” says Bressinck. “It was just a mentality we had that was letting them hang around.”
The Titans’ mentality finally shifted late in the third quarter to help spark an explosive fourth quarter for the Titans. Miller scored and was fouled and while she missed the free throw, Martin chased down the loose ball and passed to Nora Thomes for Thomes to sink a 10-foot jumper to put Crested Butte up 23-18. The Tigers did respond but when Wright scored a turnaround 10-foot jumper at the buzzer, a swing in the Titans favor seemed imminent that would then become evident in the fourth quarter.
The Titans opened the fourth quarter with a 6-2 run as Miller and Wright found success on offense and despite Hayden’s attempt to slow things down with a timeout, the Titans continue to pour it on. Miller stole the ball and dribbled coast-to-coast to score, Crabtree set up Ella Davis for a jumper and Wright and Crabtree each scored again as Crested Butte rattled off 20 fourth quarter points for the 45-29 win. Miller led the team with 20 points while Crabtree and Wright each dropped in eight.
“I think we wore them down and hadn’t quite reached our potential until the fourth quarter,” says Bressink. “It was nice to see us finish strong. From tip to final buzzer, we stuck with the plan, and it worked.”
The day did have its downside though as the Titans lost Wright to an ankle injury late in the game and that loss, combined with a few other breakdowns, would prove troublesome for Crested Butte when they headed to Trinidad on Saturday, January 24.
After a five-hour, 45-minute bus ride through weather, the Titans took to the court in Trinidad and Bressinck admits she didn’t know what to expect from her team. But they surprised her as they brought a newfound calm to the court.
“Collectively, as a team, we played the calmest we’d played all season,” says Bressinck.
Their full court press did its’ job to open the game, but Trinidad soon figured it out and were able to take a slight lead. They then extended their lead ever so slightly in the second quarter scoring six points in a row collecting missed Titan shots and getting up court quicker than Crested Butte for easy buckets.
“We just didn’t get back on defense and gave up six points in a row,” says Bressinck.
The Titans moved to a full court man-to-man press, not necessarily in your face press but one that made things difficult for Trinidad. Crested Butte managed to score points off of their press and were down just two points heading into the fourth quarter. Crabtree opened the fourth with another three-pointer to put Crested Butte out front and Crested Butte remained solid to keep a win well within reach.
Time started running out on the Titans but a after a timeout and a play in place to set up the game winning shot, a couple of miscues would prevent the Titans from a favorable outcome.
“It shouldn’t have ended like that,” says Bressinck. “It came down to those three easy buckets we gave up in the second quarter. We’ve now lost three games we should have won by a combined 10 points. We’re there, we just need to lock in and be better.”
Crested Butte’s struggles continued on Tuesday, January 27 as they fell to the Gunnison Cowboys 45-12.
The Titans have two league games this weekend as they host Center on Thursday, January 29 at 5:30 p.m. and remain at home to host Del Norte on Saturday, January 31 at 1:30 p.m.
“We’ve got a fighting chance in these games,” says Bressinck. “We are starting to put it all together. My hope is that it shows on the court.”
