By Michael Hicks
Berthoud Recorder

One team played its way in, the other played its way out. That’s what it amounts to for the Berthoud girls and boys basketball teams Sunday after the Colorado High School Activities Association announced the seedings and pairings for this year’s 4A state tournaments.

The Berthoud girls, who entered the Northern Conference tournament as the 10th seed, scored a pair of home victories over Greeley Central and Frederick to qualify for the 48-team field. The ninth-seeded Lady Spartans (9-14) will visit Widefield (13-10) on Tuesday night. The winner will face top-seeded Montrose (21-2) on Friday night in the second round of the Brenda House Region.

Meanwhile, the Berthoud boys (9-14) lost seven of their last nine games, including the first three in the conference tournament, and failed to make the state field. The Spartans closed out the tournament with a 59-42 home win over Roosevelt on Thursday night in the consolation bracket, but it wasn’t enough to get Berthoud into the field.

While Berthoud missed out, 10 Northern Conference teams made the field, including Fort Morgan (7-16) and Skyline (10-13) — two teams that finished behind the Spartans in the regular-season standings and were beaten by Berthoud. Also, Western Slope team Palisade (6-17) made the field despite starting the season 0-12.