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Broomfield beats complacency, Berthoud, for title shot

Published March 8, 2007 at midnight

BOULDER — Sequels rarely surpass the original, and the Broomfield girls basketball team reinforced that Wednesday night in the Class 4A state semifinals.

Oh, the Eagles did put on a low- post clinic in the fourth quarter to beat Berthoud 56-43 at the Coors Events Center. Still, it really didn't compare to their 77-45 win against the Spartans in the Northern League championship.

Broomfield coach Mike Croell was worried that the earlier 32- point win might lead to complacency in the rematch.

"Luckily, the girls knew it was going to be a helluva game," Croell said. "(Berthoud) wasn't going down without a fight. We knew it'd be a different game this time around."

Eagles senior forward Katie Calderwood said Broomfield, which lost only to Horizon this season, reacted better this time to such a dominant win.

"I think it helped, actually, because last year, it was the same thing against Greeley West (in the quarterfinals)," she said. "We expected to win and lost by one."

Also, there was a marked difference in each half in this one. The Eagles (26-1) were solid but couldn't pull away from the Spartans in the first half.

Broomfield's 6-foot-6 sophomore center, Anna Prins, certainly could tell the difference. Dogged by Berthoud's doubling tactics down low, she had only three first- half baskets. The Spartans had no help-side defense late, and Prins made five shots in the fourth quarter.

"I was so frustrated because I wasn't playing well, just (reacting to) what they were doing," Prins said. "I had to get myself going. Once I figured that they weren't trying to front me or anything, I just posted and entrenched them in there."

Prins finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.

"They didn't have an answer for Anna," Calderwood said. "Whenever she was open, we'd just pass her the ball. "

Chaundra Sewell, with 16 points, and Calderwood, with 12, provided the help on the perimeter to keep Berthoud from packing it in around Prins late.

Berthoud played a solid third quarter, helped along by one three-pointer each from Brittany Fiske and Maggie Murtagh.

The Spartans equaled Broomfield 15-15 in the third period, but Prins merely was setting the stage for her 10-point fourth-quarter explosion.

The Spartans (23-4) also have a standout in Fiske, a 6-1 senior who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. But other than 10 points from Murtagh, who shot only 3-for-13 from the floor, Berthoud didn't provide much support for its top player.

Berthoud......8

8 15 12 - 43
Broomfield......11 11 15 19 - 56

Berthoud — Alisa Heronema 1 0-0 2, Kassandra Haubert 2 2-4 6, Brittany Fiske 8 0-0 17, Jasmine Cervantes, 2 2-4 6. Maggie Murtagh 3 2-4 10, Kayli Allen 0 0-0 0, Amanda Stoesz 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 6-12 43.

Broomfield — Deborah Davies 0 2-2 2 Alex Biegner 1 0-0 2, Katie Calderwood 4 3-4 12, Sophia Rhodes 0 2-6 2, Caitlin Stem 0 0-3 0, Ashley Snow 0 0-0 0, Chaundra Sewell 7 1-2 16, Anna Prins 9 4-4 22. Totals 21 12-21 56.

Three-point goals — Berthoud, Fiske, Murtagh 2; Broomfield, Calderwood, Sewell. Fouled out — Murtagh.

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