Sargent Farmers take down Titan boys in fourth quarter

“It’s lining up for us to put together a string of wins”

Last week the hope was that the Crested Butte Titans boys basketball team would turn the season around, starting with an upset win over the Sargent Farmers.
Players were healthy, the defense was tightening up and the players were figuring out their roles on offense and in the press break.
 After the first quarter, their hopes continued as the Titans came out onto the court, executed their offensive game plan while stifling Sargent’s explosive attack. The first time the two teams met this year, Sargent scored 18 points in the first quarter. This time, using a mix of patience on offense and hustle on defense, the Titans handcuffed the Farmers and were up 6-4 at the close of the opening eight minutes.

“We really caught them off guard,” says coach Brandin Hamilton. “They still tried to run but we were getting back just enough.”
The Titans continued to outplay Sargent in the second quarter, building a 14-9 lead until Crested Butte’s shooters struggled and Sargent started to chip away at the lead.
Switching things up from man-to-man to a variety of zones, the Titans defense kept Sargent from turning the game completely around though, and Crested Butte carried a 14-12 lead into halftime.
“It was mostly guys just being cold,” says Hamilton. “Guys were getting good looks and it could have easily been 24-12 at the half.”
The third quarter continued just like the first two as the Titans shooters missed open looks and Sargent started hitting shots. The Titans fell down by five but clawed back to tie the game 19-19 before Sargent scored in the waning moments to take a 21-19 lead into the fourth quarter.
Still, Hamilton knew that his team wouldn’t last much longer unless things changed on offense. He tried to get Quinn Winter more involved but Sargent had an answer and kept pushing the pace.
“I had a feeling the giant was going to wake up,” says Hamilton.
The Farmer giant woke up midway through the fourth quarter as the Titans started to wear down under the strain of Sargent’s pace. With the game still close, the Farmers hit a couple of key three-pointers to build a 10-point lead and then went into preservation mode to seal the 41-28 win. David Wasinger led all Titans with 14 points.
“You could see the guys got worn down,” says Hamilton. “And once they were up by 10, they just started stalling.”
Crested Butte will head to Custer County on Saturday, February 7 and Hamilton wants to see his team continue on the right path and close out the regular season on a roll.
“Hopefully we just keep improving,” says Hamilton. “It’s lining up for us to put together a string of wins. But, we still have to go out and take care of business.”