Berthoud's Kristina Cavey a girls basketball scoring machine

When discussing the top girls basketball players in the state, many familiar names are always among the fray.

Kristina Cavey is forcing her way onto that list.

Few outside the metro area know about the 6-foot-1 Berthoud senior, but her stock is steadily on the rise. She committed to Fresno State during the early signing period in November and has taken the Class 4A circuit by storm in the opening weeks of the season.

She has averaged 28.3 points for the surprising Spartans (7-1), including efforts of 36 and 33 points. She also leads Berthoud in rebounding (7.6) and steals (2.6).

"And she's spent a fair amount of time on the bench during these first few games because we've been so far ahead," Berthoud coach Randy Earl said. "In the first game against Weld Central when she had 36, I think she just played half the game or maybe a little more."

Entering the weekend, only Loveland's Tatum Rembao (30 points a game) and Louisville-bound Mesa Ridge (Colorado Springs) center Kylee Shook (29.3) boasted glitzier scoring averages across the state including all classifications. Those players have regularly received acclaim, as have the key cogs from 5A powerhouses Highlands Ranch, ThunderRidge and Broomfield, and the Sand Creek (Colorado Springs) duo of Oliana Squires and Liah Davis.

But Cavey is rapidly becoming a part of that fray after missing eight games of her junior season due to a knee injury. She was diagnosed with a high knee sprain and advised not to push things, so the injury didn't evolve into something serious. She averaged 17.3 points for a 14-9 Spartans squad last season, but has taken a monumental leap at the outset of her senior year.

"We transitioned our play into a little bit of a faster pace, so we've been able to get easy baskets in transition as well as hit the open three," Cavey said. "That's something we worked on this fall and over the offseason was to get a fast pace going, and we have a lot of kids that are great at running the court and connecting on those passes."

Berthoud entered the week at No. 9 in the CHSAANow.com poll, and the Spartans firmly believe they can be a factor in the classification. Their only loss was to 3A No. 4 Lutheran, and they return four starters. The fifth member of the starting unit is talented freshman point guard Sydney Meis, whom Cavey frequently shoots with on mornings before school.

Cavey, who selected Fresno State over Bryant University, late pursuer Nevada and several Division II opportunities, gives the Spartans a dynamic seldom witnessed at the Tri-Valley League school. Her production isn't pigeonholed to a particular area of the court, as she possesses guard- and forward-centric skills that allow her to score from virtually anywhere on the floor.

"Wherever she wants," Earl said with a laugh. "She can hit the three – she's 47 percent from the three-point line – but she can hit the 15-foot jumper, she'll cut or dribble to the basket, she'll get offensive rebounds and put them back in. So it's not just one area. She can score from any of those places."

Cavey said she chose Fresno State because she could feel the "grueling winning mentality that they had" and liked the Bulldogs' entire package of athletes, coaches, facilities and resources. But for now, the girl who grew up believing softball was her top sport has one more season on the high school hardwood.

Cavey played competitive softball through seventh grade before the transformation to basketball took hold.

"I kind of got awkwardly tall and I wasn't very good at it towards the end," she said. "So I stopped playing softball, but I had also played basketball since fourth grade. Once I hit eighth grade, I thought, ‘I really like this; I want to do this.' So I always had the dream of playing a college sport, but wasn't sure which one."

In eighth grade, Cavey began playing hoops at a higher level with summer traveling teams. She has played most recently with Colorado Elite, coached by Keirsten Walters, a former Heritage guard who went on to play at Connecticut.

"She still practices with us and kicks our butt," Cavey said.

The Elite squad also includes Jonni Smith of Bishop Machebeuf (Denver), who is bound for Cal-Poly, and Horizon (Thornton) standouts Kylie Jimenez and Isabella Allen. Cavey morphed into one of the Elite's go-to scorers over the summer, an ascension Earl believes benefited more than just Cavey now that the high school season is back in action.

"It's helped everybody," Earl said. "It's elevated everybody's play a little bit."