The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“That was the best I’ve seen us play for four quarters straight”
by Than Acuff
The experiment continues to bear fruit for the Crested Butte Titan girls basketball team as they may have played their best game, or at least most complete game, ever under coach Vaden Holmes.
The girls have seen plenty of success this year against JV teams, and some varsity squads, during the initial weeks of the season as they gained momentum against non-league opponents and smaller programs. But this past weekend would be the first real test for the Titans as they matched up against JV teams from two of the more successful programs in 2A, Del Norte and Sanford.
They started things off Friday, January 17 against the Del Norte Tigers and were a bit slow to start, falling behind 13-5 by the end of the first quarter. But, as the first quarter progressed, Crested Butte’s defense got better and they managed to bring a far more improved game to both ends of the court in the second quarter.
Blakely Reynolds got things going, scoring off some individual hustle, setting the tone for the rest of the team. India Nornes then followed that bucket with a steal to set up Sophia Truex for a 12-foot jumper, Reynolds knocked down her second three-pointer of the game and then Truex returned the favor to strip a pass and set up Nornes for an eight-foot stop and pop, pulling the Titans to within three points and forcing Del Norte to call a timeout. Nornes came out of the break to hit another shot and a series of passes set up Truex for a mid-range jumper as the Titans held Del Norte close heading into halftime.
“I think they all started working well together and it showed that I can throw girls into the game and they can maintain their pace,” says Holmes. “I feel like I have a deeper bench than I ever have.”
Truex and Reynolds continued to pour it on but Del Norte started finding cracks in the Titans’ defense to gain a little breathing room and built a six-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth was chaotic to start for both teams but Crested Butte thrived in the open play and their defense started to stem Del Norte’s attack once again. Reynolds and Truex hit key buckets down the stretch to pull within three points with 40 seconds left and Holmes called one last timeout to develop one last push for the win.
The play fell short and a foul to stop the clock put Del Norte on the line. The shooter hit both and time ran out to close the door on Titans for good, falling 43-38. Reynolds led the team with 19 points, with Truex and several others contributing.
“Del Norte is a strong program, always has been,” says Holmes. “When you have a team that lives, eats and breathes basketball they are used to closing out games.”
Despite the result, Holmes and the team feel it may have been some of the best basketball the Titans have played in recent years.
“I think we played really well,” adds Holmes. “That was the best I’ve seen us play for four quarters straight. Still, there’s always room to improve.”
The Titans had a tougher go of it the next day in their loss to Sanford.
“Sanford is definitely a different caliber but we also didn’t really show up to play,” says Holmes.
The Titans return to the floor this week as they face South Park on the road on Friday, January 24.
