Berthoud – Maggie Murtagh drove to the basket and banked in a tough two points at the first-half buzzer. That shot helped the Berthoud senior find her rhythm, and it was a good thing she did, because the Spartans did not get too many second chances.
Berthoud found itself outworked on the boards, but solid defense and a hotter shooting hand in the second half allowed the Spartans to run away late for a 46-29 victory over visiting Windsor on Tuesday night in a Class 4A Northern League East Division game.
“They dominated the boards (31-15). It was so irritating,” Murtagh said. “Boxing out and defense, that’s what wins games. Thankfully we had our defense.”
Berthoud had some offense, too. Murtagh dropped a 3-pointer on the first shot of the second half and two more from long range in the third quarter on the way to a game-high 17 points. Jasmine Cervantes finished with 11 points, and her 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter ended any hope for the Wizards.
The Spartans, No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News poll, improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. Unranked Windsor lost its first game of the season and stands 3-1, 1-1.
The lead changed hands throughout the first quarter, which ended with Berthoud up 8-7. The Spartans would not trail again, but it wasn’t because of their work on the boards.
“We needed to box out because they were getting most of their points off second shots,” Cervantes said. “But at least our defense was pretty tight.”
After Murtagh’s 3-pointer opened the second half, Windsor’s Mallory Duran did her best to keep the game close. After hitting a short jumper, Duran pulled down a rebound and took it back up for two points to make it 25-20. But that’s as close as Windsor got.
Murtagh hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the Spartans stretched their lead to 13 points in the third quarter to put it away.
“We knew we had to focus on rebounding, because they are the type of team that will put it in the basket if they get a second chance,” Windsor’s Erin Wilkinson said. “But Murtagh, she was just on fire.”
Windsor 7 6 11 5 – 29
Berthoud 8 12 17 9 – 46
Windsor – Fisbeck 3 0-2 6, Heiden 0 0-0 0, Wilkinson 4 1-2 9, Duran 2 1-2 6, Neely 2 0-0 4, Gault 2 0-0 4, Daniels 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 2-6 29.
Berthoud – Haubert 1 0-0 2, Heronema 4 0-0 8, Fiske 2 2-2 6, Cervantes 5 0-0 11, Murtagh 7 0-1 17, Stoesz 0 2-2 2, Allshouse 0 0-0 0, Lucero 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 4-5 46.
3-point goals – Duran; Murtagh 3, Cervantes. Fouls – Windsor 11; Berthoud 9. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
