Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Lady Spartans remain perfect

December 27, 2019 | Local News

By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

Seven games into the season has the Berthoud High School (BHS) girls basketball team sitting at a perfect 7-0 mark with a +260 point differential, an average margin of victory of more than 37 points per game.

In their opening game of the season – a road tilt with top-10-ranked Evergreen back on Dec. 4 – Berthoud found themselves trailing 11-0 early in the opening quarter. Since then, however, it has been nothing but total, complete dominance.

Photo by Jill Strait – Berthoud senior Maddie Barcewski races past the Evergreen defender in a game earlier this season. The Lady Spartans enter the Christmas break with a perfect 7-0 record and a 37-point average margin of victory.

The Lady Spartans swept the competition at this past weekend’s Trojan Tournament in Longmont, defeating Thomas Jefferson by a 76-26 final, handling host Longmont with ease in a 69-34 victory, and closing things out with a 60-51 win over Glenwood Springs.

As they did in their own tournament the previous weekend, Berthoud got off to a hot start in each of the three games, an approach that not only helps on the scoreboard but serves to deflate their opponents from a mental perspective and force them to play the game on Berthoud’s terms.

The Lady Spartans began the tournament in Longmont by jumping out to a whopping 33-7 lead after the opening eight minutes of play. By halftime Berthoud held a commanding 55-12 lead. Once again it was Berthoud’s stellar defense setting up their prolific offense; the Lady Spartans recorded an incredible 23 steals against Thomas Jefferson and out rebounded their opponents by a 40-23 margin.

When all was said and done, Berthoud had five players hit double-digits in points. Senior superstar Emily Cavey led the way with 18, junior Bre Fowler added 14 more, sophomore Ally Padilla scored 11 on perfect five-for-five shooting, while Celsey Selland and Martha Rennaker added 10 apiece. As a team, Berthoud shot 43% from the floor. Senior Mckayla Milan grabbed eight boards to pace the Berthoud squad, Selland recorded seven rebounds to go with five steals, and senior Maddie Barcewski finished with six rebounds and four steals.

The story was much the same on Friday night when Berthoud faced off with tournament host Longmont. A 29-11 lead in the first quarter was extended to 50-26 in the Lady Spartans’ favor by halftime. Even with the commanding lead, Berthoud did not let off on the accelerator in the second half, outscoring a deflated Longmont squad 19-8 to take the game by 35 points.

Cavey again paced the Berthoud squad with 20 points while Selland added another 13 to go with a team-high 18 rebounds. Padilla scored 12 and Fowler added 10 more. The final score could have been even more lopsided in Berthoud’s favor as the team collectively shot only 55% from the free-throw line, a season low.

The final game of the weekend provided Berthoud’s stiffest test of the three-game set. Glenwood Springs entered the game 6-4 on the season and had won their first two games in the Trojan tournament by a combined 46 points. Berthoud, however, did not let the looming specter of the approaching Christmas break distract from the task at hand.

True to form, the Lady Spartans jumped out to a sizable early lead, taking a 21-7 lead after the opening quarter of play. Unlike their previous opponents, Glenwood did not let their large deficit sap their will. The Demons hung 19 on the board in the second period, out scoring Berthoud by six to trail by only eight points at the halftime break, 34-26. The second half was hard fought, with Berthoud tallying 26 points to Glenwood’s 25. The nine-point win marked the first time in seven games the Lady Spartans did not have a margin of victory in the double-figures.

Fowler led Berthoud with 22 points, a season high for the standout junior point guard. Cavey recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Selland and Padilla also scored 10 points apiece while Barcewski grabbed 10 rebounds for Berthoud.

Berthoud will take their perfect 7-0 record into the two-week layoff over Christmas break. When Berthoud returns to action, they will begin Tri-Valley Conference play. This year the conference schedule features Berthoud opening and closing the 16-game gauntlet with four of five at home that sandwiches a two-week, six-game stretch all on the road.

The Lady Spartans will face off with Mead on Saturday Jan. 4 with tipoff set for 11:30 a.m.  

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