text: Berthoud sophomore Bre Fowler, a starter as a freshman for the Spartans, has taken her game to another level this season in a 6-0 start for the team.
  Mike Brohard / Loveland Reporter-Herald
  Bre Fowler (13) of Berthoud throws a pass to teammate Maddie Barcewski around the defense of Adams' City's Dezlin LaGuardia during a game this year. Fowler not only leads the Spartans in scoring, but also assists, steals and blocks.
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  By Mike Brohard | mbrohard@prairiemountainmedia.com and Mike Brohard Sports | Loveland Reporter-Herald
  December 17, 2018 at 7:19 p.m.
  BERTHOUD — You could see the ability was there.
  It was in the way she moved on the court. She was fluid, showed body control, be it in offensive or defensive sets.
  As a freshman, Bre Fowler was showing more than just the physical attributes, too. Closer inspection told you she came equipped with a basketball IQ. She was smooth because she understood what was going, what was being asked of her by first-year Berthoud coach Alan Gibson.
  Teammate Sydney Leeper noticed it right away.
  “She was a stud. I was very impressed with her from the first day,” said Leeper, who runs the show from the point. “I knew from the first practice that she was something special. Like, she is a very talented player. She’s one of those players who only grows.
  “She never declines. She’s always becoming a better player. There is not an offseason for her.”
  Yes, there were mistakes. She was a freshman, after all. She also didn’t have to be the focal point of anything, which was nice. She could blend in, learn and grow comfortable, a process ramped up by her being a starter.
  She was encouraged. She wasn’t nearly pleased.
  As a coach, Gibson could see it coming. He knew it would develop.
  As a coach, the timing of when is guess work.
  “We knew it would just be a matter of time before she grew a little bit physically, and also just get to the pace and the intensity of the varsity level,” Gibson said. “Once we knew she was going to be exposed to that, we knew we had us a good little player.”
  A year later, she’s more than that for a Spartans’ team that has started off 6-0 minus a major weapon. Fowler leads the team in scoring, but also assists, steals and blocks shots.
  She had a trio of double-digit games as a freshman, with a career best of 12. That’s her low point this year, recording her first 20-point effort in a win over Adams City. She’s averaging 16.8 points per game on the season, and her explanation is hard work pays off.
  “I worked a lot on my shooting and my dribbling. I’ve done the two-ball dribbling drills and my 3-point shooting,” Fowler said of her offseason regiment. “It’s definitely improved since last year. Last year, I shot somewhat, but I didn’t have the confidence that I needed. This year, finally, my confidence has come because my shooting has definitely improved, and I wanted to improve my 3-point shooting.”
  At 5-foot-8, she plays bigger and longer than she looks, especially out in front of Gibson’s zone-defensive sets. He knows that’s partially because she has strong instincts on the defensive end, the kind he says can’t be taught, and anticipation is key to quick hands and even quicker feet.
  In the Adams City win, she had a personal 10-0 run. Part of it came off the defensive pressure she used to create steals, and some of it came out of a set offense, draining a pair of 3-pointers.
  When the Eagles called a timeout, she came off the floor with a wide grin, looking almost a bit embarrassed as her teammates swarmed her.
  “I was just really excited. That’s never really happened,” Fowler said. “That’s a really good feeling. It felt great.”
  As did the opening game of the season when she scored 16 points. She knew her shot improved over the summer, and she was feeling it a bit. In practice, her teammates and coaches were encouraging her, and she started to build a bit of belief.
  The game was just proof-positive for her.
  “I didn’t really contribute much to the scoring effort (last year),” she said. “I did well assisting, but this year, I’m finally putting the points up that I should be doing, and that’s helping the team and getting us closer to wins.”
  She’s not forcing anything, and she most definitely is falling in Gibson’s company line when it comes to the question everybody was going to ask about the Spartans.
  Who is going to replace the production of Emily Cavey, last season’s RH Player of the Year who is out with a torn ACL?
  The answer — duh — is a collective sigh, because that is the answer.
  The Spartans will do it collectively. As a team. Piece by piece.
  The advancement of Fowler’s game is part of the how, not the sole reason.
  “It’s been a whole team effort. I’m incredibly proud of my team,” Leeper said. “We’ve made a lot of progress. We worked a lot this summer together, and we knew we had to step up our games. Everyone did. Everyone has, nicely, and in file, filled up.”
  Fowler’s improvement jumps out, but at the same time, Eriana Rennaker has improved. So too has Celsey Selland and McKayla Milan in the post. Maddie Barcewski has made some noise as a junior playing varsity for the first time, and freshman Ally Padilla has jumped into the scoring fray, third on the team at 7.8 per outing.
  The only person who asked Fowler to make more of an impact was Fowler.
  “It was going to have to be all of us collectively, and I think she just uses her strengths,” Gibson said. “She knows what kind of player she is. She’s never tried to do too much, and she does what she does best, and it involved her and it involves getting her teammates involved as well.”
  The change has been welcome. Fowler, behind her work, is more aggressive with her new skill set, but she’s still not happy. Remind her she’s shooting less than 50 percent from the free-throw line and she frowns. She explains everybody has to make 100 free throws a week, then notes she has to start shooting extra after practice.
  “Coach says it a lot. Don’t be satisfied, but you can be happy, but let’s get working,” Leeper said. “That’s always been her motto. She’s always been not entirely satisfied. She’s always working on it. There’s so many times in a game she’ll beat herself down a bit for not making those shots, stuff like that. Then the next game she’ll come around and make that exact shot she missed.”
  Fowler is a better player, which is not surprising to Gibson. Nor is it to Fowler, who didn’t sit idly over the summer expecting her year of varsity experience to improve her game.
  The Spartans knew she was going to be good, and she made sure to prove them right. But she’s not done, not by a longshot.
  As a coach, Gibson can see it still. How good, that’s the only question which remains.
  “It’s exciting to know. I still think her ceiling is still high,” he said. “She’s still going to get better and better, because of her work ethic and how important the game is to her and how much fun she has doing it.”
  Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard
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  Mike Brohard | Sports Editor
  Mike Brohard has worked at the Loveland Reporter-Herald for 26 years, covering high school, college and community sports in the area.	
  mbrohard@prairiemountainmedia.com
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