Titans take two from 4A Battle Mountain

Aggressive defense keeps the ball in Coal Ridge's hands

By Joelle Milholm
December 1, 2007

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CARBONDALE - A 9-0 scoring run and a huge momentum shift in the second quarter helped the Coal Ridge boys basketball team fuel a come-from-behind 74-56 win on Friday night over Battle Mountain in the Brenda Patch Tournament at Roaring Fork High School.

After finding themselves down most of the first half, the Titans aggressive defense, which grabbed 16 steals in the contest, started giving the Class 4A Huskies fits.

"They picked their pressure up a little bit and we got out of what we were doing," said Battle Mountain head coach Phil Tronsrue.

With two steals from Eric Schmitz, a few fast break points, a couple free throws and a Skyler James 3-pointer, the Titans cut Battle Mountain's lead to 31-25 on a 9-0 run to take the momentum into halftime.

"They looked a little nervous, like deer in the headlights, but as soon as our defense picked up, you could see it start to turn," said Coal Ridge head coach Mike Cox. "It was fun. ... When we play defense like that, it just kick starts us."

The Titans turned it up a notch in the third quarter, forcing 13 Huskie turnovers and out-scoring Battle Mountain 21-7 to take a 46-38 lead. A 3-pointer from Schmitz tied the game at 37 and more steals that resulted in quick passes down the court followed by open layups gave Coal Ridge a lead that continued to grow.

"My teammates were running, so I just looked for them and they were there," said Schmitz, who had nine rebounds and five assists in the game. "I just gave it to them for a nice easy layup."

The Huskies were not ready to throw in the towel however as Victor Rios hit a pair of 3s, in addition to a few layups, in the fourth quarter what cut the Titans lead to 57-51 with four minutes to go.

Then Schmitz found his groove from the perimeter. The junior all but put the game away by busting three of his five 3-pointers in the game in the last four minutes to take away any chance the Huskies had at coming back.

"In the first half I didn't really have it and I could feel it, but I kept my confidence up and started hitting in that second half, so that was good," said Schmitz, who scored 25 points in the contest.

Andy Smedra added 17 points, five assists and four steals for Coal Ridge, while James finished with 15 points, six steals and five rebounds.

Coal Ridge will play its last game of the Brenda Patch Tourney today at 2:30 p.m. against another 4A opponent - Steamboat.

"We have a tough one tomorrow night," Cox said. "I am looking forward to it


Coal Ridge girls get win in season opener

The Coal Ridge girls basketball team started the 2006-07 season on the right foot on Friday afternoon, defeating Battle Mountain 53-22 in the Brenda Patch Tournament at Roaring Fork High School.

While going 1-0 is always a big boost, doing it against a Class 4A team makes the 3A Titans' first-year Rick Schmitz even happier.

"Anytime to start and win your opener, that's a good starting point," Schmitz said. "I am pleased with our effort. We played hard and that's how we need to play."

The cobwebs were evident, as expected in a season opener as both teams tried to get the feel of their offenses and controlling turnovers. While Coal Ridge had some turnovers of its own, Battle Mountain had more, many of which came from in-your-face defense by the Titans.

"Our emphases has really been on the defensive side and I felt OK," Schmitz said. "The defense was OK in the first half, we just fouled too much. It got much better in the second half."

Mikaela Guettler led the Titans with 11 points, while Daile Gray, Morgan Jessup and Callie Schlegel each added eight. Strong free throw shooting also helped Coal Ridge, as the Titans sank 17 of their 25 attempts from the charity stripe for a 68 percentage mark.

After the game Coal Ridge stayed to watch the Roaring Fork-Steamboat Springs girls game to scout out the Sailors, who it will face in its final game of the Brenda Patch Tourney at 1 p.m.