Preview: Berthoud Spartans vs. Weld Central Rebels
Berthoud has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Weld Central Rebels at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Berthoud pushed their score all the way to 56 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 67-56 hit to the loss column at the hands of Eaton. The match was a 31-31 toss-up at halftime, but Berthoud couldn't quite close it out.
Berthoud's loss came about despite a quality game from Declan Murphy, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points and 0 assists. It was the first time this season that Murphy scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Isaac Erickson, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Weld Central pushed their score all the way to 67 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They suffered a rough 91-67 loss at the hands of Resurrection Christian. While losing is never fun, Weld Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 168th, while the Cougars are ranked 16th).
Tyler Branch put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 30 points. Dylan Pevler was another key contributor, scoring 16 points.
Berthoud's defeat dropped their record down to 10-6. As for Weld Central, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-8.
Berthoud was able to grind out a solid win over the Rebels in their previous meeting back in January, winning 69-60. The rematch might be a little tougher for Berthoud since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
