The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We were just intimidated”
The Sierra Grande Panthers brought their fast and furious attack and handed the Lady Titans a 68-42 drubbing in mighty Mt. Olympus on Friday, February 1.
The Panthers set the tone early and the Lady Titans never quite managed to catch up.
“They came ready to play,” says coach MaryMike Haley. “We got ourselves in a hole and couldn’t get out of it. We were just intimidated.”
The Lady Titans handled the pressure early, shredding the Panther press for a basket inside by Elisabeth Desmarais. The Lady Titans battled for a loose ball inside to kick it out to Ali McGuire for another bucket but Sierra Grande would not let up.
While Crested Butte put up nine points in the first quarter, Sierra Grande responded with three-pointers and transition baskets to score 21.
Elizabeth Kilpatrick opened the second quarter with a huge block and Maddie Stichter drained a couple jumpers but the Panthers would come back with a three-pointer or another quick trip up the court for easy looks to take a 36-18 lead into halftime.
The third quarter played out just like the second. Kilpatrick scores underneath, Sierra Grande drains a three. McGuire slips in off the wing for two and Sierra Grande makes two passes up court for another layup. Stichter hits from 14 feet out, and Sierra Grande responds with a three-pointer, a steal for another bucket and another three-pointer.
The Panthers hit four from three-point land in the third quarter alone to build a 21-point lead and added two more and a host of fast-paced offensive attacks to eventually drop the Lady Titans 68-42.
“They’re about conditioning and shooting and they’re super-disciplined at both,” says Haley. “This was a beat-down.”
Haley did see some good things in the game and still believes that as the season progresses, the Lady Titans will tighten up at both ends of the floor.
“They all had their moments. We just have a difficult time putting it all together on the floor,” says Haley.
Stichter finished the game with 15 points and while Shannon Costello was unable to break loose on offense, she put together an admirable effort on defense.
Haley has the team working against frantic pressure this week as they prepare for two more league games this weekend.
The Lady Titans head to South Park on Friday, February 8 and return home to mighty Mt. Olympus to host Custer County. Tip-off for the girls’ game is 1 p.m.
“We need to improve our efficiency on offense—our timing needs to be better,” says Haley. “My goal is to get through this weekend with a couple wins.”
