By Dan Karpiel
The Surveyor

Over the course of a long season every team is going to have the expected ups and downs. For the Berthoud High boys’ basketball team, who found themselves at an even 2-2 at the conclusion of the Skyline Falcon Challenge in Longmont on Dec. 5, the important thing is the trend lines remain positive.

The Spartans ended the three-game tournament on the positive note, beating Englewood 68-54 to take seventh place in the eight-team affair. In the previous two games Berthoud fell 67-53 to Peak to Peak High School and 76-60 to Pueblo East.

In both losses the second quarter proved to be Spartans’ undoing. Berthoud surrendered 24 points to Peak to Peak in the second period and faced a 41-28 halftime deficit. Two days later Berthoud was nearly doubled-up, 31-16, in the second against Pueblo East and saw a one-point deficit after one expand to 14, 43-29, by halftime.

Against Englewood, however, Berthoud was able to out-score the Pirates 15-13 in the second to take a scant 31-30 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the second half Berthoud was able to overcome the bugaboos that plagued them in the prior two games and out-scored Englewood 37-21 in the final 16 minutes to get the 17-point win.

Senior wing Dylan Adaza led the way for Berthoud by scoring 23 points, while fellow-senior Patrick Barron added another 20 on a 4-for-6 effort from beyond the arc.

Berthoud, despite having five seniors on its varsity roster, are a relatively young team and are adapting to their third head coach in the last three seasons. It was something Berthoud head coach Mike Burkett talked about prior the season beginning.

“These guys have had some changes and we’re trying to change the mindset around here,” Burkett explained. “What I really want is for these guys, and they’re such a responsive group, is to do the fundamentals. I want them to rebound, I want to them to play defense, I want them to play possession to possession, one at a time.”

Berthoud (2-2) will play its final two games of the Spartan Classic against Littleton and Lutheran on Dec. 9 and 11, respectively. The Spartans will host Denver-based Bishop Machebeuf High on Dec. 15 and travel to Loveland to play Thompson Valley on Dec. 18 to conclude the pre-conference portion of their schedule. After Christmas break Berthoud tips off its Tri-Valley Conference schedule with a trip to Erie on Jan. 5.