Lady Spartans win third straight, top Roosevelt 59-57
By Dan Karpiel
The Surveyor
As cliché as it may sound, when it comes to the world of sports, one must expect the unexpected.
Playing Tuesday night at Berthoud High School, the visiting Roosevelt Roughriders drained seven three-pointers, including four in the fourth period, to give the heavily-favored Lady Spartans a run for their money. Berthoud ultimately held on, 59-57, to notch its third-straight Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) victory.
The quartet of fourth-period treys from the Lady Riders surprised Berthoud Head Coach Randy Earl, who said after the game that he didn’t know the opposing team had a knack for shooting from downtown. “No, I’ve seen them play a couple times and I haven’t seen them do that,” Earl said. “They were just hot.”
But Earl was quick to point out that his team could have done a better job defensively.
“We didn’t get out of them as good as we should have; we didn’t guard them close enough,” he said.
The 59 points Berthoud hung on the board represented the team’s high-water mark for scoring on the season. A trio of Lady Spartans – Kristina Cavey (18), Maria Fate (10) and Sydney Kouns (13) – all hit double-digits in points.
The Lady Spartans really broke out in the opening portion of the second period. Trailing 14-11 after one, Berthoud assembled a 13-0 scoring run to build a 10-point lead, 24-14. Five Lady Spartans – Cavey, Fate, Kouns, Taylor Armitage and Sarah Howard – got in on the scoring frenzy as the home team made good on five of its first seven shot attempts in the period, while Roosevelt missed its first seven from the floor.
Whatever momentum the Lady Riders were able to generate with a 6-0 run to close out the first half, cutting Berthoud’s lead to 26-20, was erased in the opening minutes of the third as Fate scored four points on back-to-back possessions to put the Lady Spartans back ahead by 10, 39-29.
Berthoud was able to keep its lead in the neighborhood of 10 points throughout most of the second half, using a combination of opportunistic defense and timely offense. With 6:48 left in the game, Cavey swiped a steal, executed a textbook behind the back dribble to get the just-stolen basketball away from Roosevelt’s Michelle Batista and drove the length of the court for a lay-up to put Berthoud up 48-38.
Roosevelt was able to assemble a late-game run, draining four from beyond the arc, two of which came off the hands of diminutive freshman Elyssa Crespin, to cut Berthoud’s lead down to a single possession on two separate occasions. Yet a four-for-four effort from the charity stripe and a three-pointer courtesy of Kouns kept Berthoud in the lead, albeit barely.
“There were definitely a couple points in the game where we needed to re-cap ourselves and re-focus, but we pulled together well, I think. It was really close, but we managed to do it,” said Howard.
Howard, who is playing a bigger and bigger role for the Lady Spartans with each passing game, made a critical lay-up with 1:38 remaining that put Berthoud up 59-56 and then iced the game shortly afterwards by swiping a steal on what would be Roosevelt’s final possession of the game, ending the Lady Riders’ hope of a miracle comeback.
Having been thrust into a role as one of the Lady Spartans’ primary ball-handlers when Cavey missed time with a knee injury did Howard, a sophomore, a lot of good. Asked about taking on such a critical role as a sophomore with no prior varsity experience, Howard said the baptism by fire, “helped me get my head straight, all the jitters were all out after the first game.”
The sophomore guard credited her teammates with her rapid development.
“They make me a better basketball player, and it’s such a privilege to play with them. I’m really glad I can contribute something to the team.”
After Tuesday’s win, Earl looked and sounded like a man who is pleased with what he sees from his squad. And, Earl said, he thinks his team is really beginning to find its groove.
“Yeah, at least tonight it looked that way,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep doing that. The competition is going to get a lot tougher here over the next few games.”
Indeed. Berthoud (8-4, 3-0) begins a brutal stretch of their schedule Jan. 16 when Windsor (7-3, 1-0) pays a visit to the Berthoud gym. The two teams shared the TVC crown last season and both appear to be in the mix for the conference title again this year.
- February, 22 2019
Berthoud girls basketball enter state...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor The season starts now for the Berthoud High School (BHS)...
- February, 27 2020
Berthoud girls claim 1st in conferenc...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Now the fun begins. The Berthoud High girls basketball team...
- February, 09 2017
Berthoud girls defense lassos lady ‘R...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Defense has been their bread-and-butter all year. Defense has actually...
- December, 11 2014
Lady Spartans take Silver in Manual T...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Berthoud's Maria Fate grabs another rebound...
- December, 10 2015
Lady Spartans take first in Manual to...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Berthoud’s Kristina Cavey gets the jump...
- February, 12 2015
Wizards hold off Lady Spartans
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Berthoud’s Taylor Armitage grabs arebound during...
- Baseball gets mercy-rule win in seaso...
- Berthoud’s Connor Jorissen make...
- Berthoud’s Adrian Short throws ...
- Spartans notch well-deserved win in s...
- Sandstedt brings tremendous experienc...
- Boys basketball rides highs ad lows t...
- Berthoud golfers win R2J Championship
- Berthoud golf team begins season swing
- Berthoud golf team takes home R2J Cha...
- Spartan soccer ends season on a high ...
- Berthoud soccer squad seeing signific...
- Future appears bright for Berthoud so...
- Berthoud football dominates in season...
- Berthoud football to host foundation ...
- Young Spartans win championship
- Lady Spartan golfers rounding into form
- Lady Spartan golfers aiming for state
- Berthoud sending two golfers to state...
- Berthoud softball team falls in regio...
- Strong fundamentals propel Berthoud s...
- Lady Spartans softball team on a five...
- Roberts, Major win conference swimmin...
- Freshman phenom Corrine Roberts alrea...
- The making of a champion
- Berthoud sending two lines to state c...
- Lady Spartans earn second place at re...
- Berthoud tennis claims league crown
- Berthoud girls 4×800 relay, Jayd...
- Forty-year-old track record broken
- Windy R2J Invite blows in season-bests
- Berthoud’s Wil Moneypenny earns...
- Berthoud’s Coble, Moneypenny an...
- Moneypenny wins first, Spartans claim...
Interesting facts about Memorial Day
Local NewsNews Bites – May 26, 2022
Local NewsBerthoud Trustee Lonnie Stevens resigns
Local NewsPolice activity resolved in Berthoud
Local News
COMMUNITY CALENDAR:
Community Calendar – add an eventUnited Soccer Club Annual Tryouts
31 May 9:00 AM - 6:30 PMHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
03 Jun 4:00 PM - 7:00 PMWriting Workshops for Artists – Artist-s Statement ...
04 Jun 1:00 PM - 5:00 PMWriting Workshops for Artists – Artist’s Stat...
04 Jun 1:00 PM - 5:00 PMBasics of Drawing – Adults Ages 14 and up
06 Jun 5:00 PM - 6:30 PMWeekend Warriors Film Competition – Teens to Adults
10 Jun 6:00 PM - 6:00 PM