The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I think they’ve bought into basketball, and we can work with that moving forward”
By Than Acuff
The Crested Butte Titans girls’ basketball team was on the cusp of making the post season but needed to win at least two of their three games in the final league tournament. After falling to the Sargent Farmers in the first round, they took down the Creede Miners but fell to the Trinidad Miners and ended up ranked 33rd overall in 2A, one spot out of the state tournament.
Going into the Sargent game, the Titans had no aspirations of beating a team that had taken the Titans down by 40 points just a week before. So, the focus was more on improving on their previous effort in three specific areas and while the Titans lost 49-19, there were some bright spots.
“We did all three of those things better,” says coach Anna Bressinck. “And I was able to get my bench players some valuable minutes, and they were able to go out there and do some good things.”
Two days later the Titans headed to Creede to face an opponent that looked strong on paper with a record of 14-6, but the coaching staff dug deeper and realized the game could be a favorable match up and the players bought in.
“Their record did not tell the tale,” says Bressinck. “I knew this was a game where we could compete and win and vibes were very high on the team. The girls were loose, free and having fun.”
The Titans opened the game looking to disrupt Creede’s game plan with a defensive-oriented starting five and the ploy worked and then some. Nora Thomes and Summer Martin scored the opening buckets for the Titans, Molly Miller did what she does to score six more and Ella Davis scored off a Titans’ press break to give Crested Butte a 12-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Creede adjusted accordingly and climbed back into the game to go up 15-14 but Lola Wright closed the first half with a short jumper and Crested Butte remained out front 16-15 at halftime.
“The first quarter looked great, we just got a little sped up in the second quarter,” says Bressinck. “I told them we’re a little jacked up and we need to settle in and make better decisions.”
The Titans did settle down a little bit in the third quarter with their press causing problems for Creede and baskets from Miller, Rio Crabtree and Davis helping push the Titans out to a 24-19 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Crested Butte held onto their lead through the fourth quarter with Miller knocking down six more points and then started killing the clock on offense to finish off Creede 31-23. Miller led the team with 16 points.
“We were able to settle down, execute the game plan and seal the game,” says Bressinck. “We started well and ended well so I was proud of that.”
The Titans season would then come to an end with a tough rematch with the Trinidad Miners on Saturday, February 28 as Crested Butte looked to avenge the earlier loss.
And while the Miners had made the proper adjustments to address the Titans’ press, Crested Butte remained diligent in their efforts to handcuff Trinidad’s top scorers down low and were down just 13-12 at halftime.
“We were effective in the first half and Trinidad was having a tough time,” says Bressinck. “We were able to stifle them.”
Davis put in a big effort on offense scoring buckets in the third quarter but for every two points the Titans scored, Trinidad would score three and they slowly pulled away from Crested Butte to take a 23-17 lead and hold on for the 32-24 win ending the Titans season. The Titans finished ranked 33rd with the top 32 teams going on in the post season. Miller ended up being named second team all-league for the third season in a row.
“It’s an accomplishment to be that close and it’s going to be a goal next season to make it there,” says Bressinck. “They’ve done the work, seen it all and are battle tested. We made a lot of strides this year and they stuck together and grew as basketball players. I think they’ve bought into basketball, and we can work with that moving forward.”
