Boys Win in Overtime as Girls Enjoy Bye Week
By Dan Karpiel
Sports Writer
After dropping four consecutive games to close out the regular season, the Berthoud High boys basketball team made a trip to Ault on Friday night for an opening round district playoff game against Highland. The Spartans, who had fallen to Highland 59-44 in Ault just one week ago, got their revenge on Friday night with a thrilling 60-57 victory in overtime.
The Spartans came out of the gate strong on Friday night, holding a 33-26 lead at halftime thanks to a 21 point second period. The Huskies battled back, out-scoring Berthoud 17-9 in the third period. After scoring 13 to the Huskies’ 12 in the fourth period, the game went to overtime with the score tied at 55. Berthoud out-scored Highland 5-2 in the overtime period to clinch the upset victory.
Zach Ruebesam led the Spartans with 21 points having shot 8/12 (67%) from the floor including 5/7 from three-point range. Greg Hutchins added 12 points and Mic Nienaber 10 as the Spartans shot a combined 20/43 (47%) from the floor and 12/21 from the free-throw line. Alex Santos led the Spartans with six rebounds and Nienaber swiped five of Berthoud’s ten steals on the night.
Berthoud will place their next district playoff game at 6pm on Tuesday, February 22 in Gilcrest against the 15-4 Valley Vikings. Valley finished the season in first place in the 3A Patriot league and beat the Spartans 68-36 in Gilcrest back on February 10.
The Berthoud Spartans girls basketball team finished the regular season with a 13-6 overall record and in fourth place in the 3A Patriot League. Thanks to their strong regular season, Berthoud enjoyed a bye week in the first round of the district tournament. The Lady Spartans will be back in action this week as they will host Brush, who also finished the regular season with a 13-6 record and fifth place in the 3A Patriot League. Tip-off for the Lady Spartans will be at 6 p.m. in the Berthoud High gym.
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