2005-06 Barton Men's Basketball News

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team didn’t miss out on the upset of a ranked team this time around, knocking off No. 18 ranked Northeastern (Colo) Junior College on the final day of the Cougar Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic at the Barton County Gym Sautrday. The Cougars, who just missed an upset of No. 4 Coffeyville last weekend, defeated the Plainsmen, 80-64, to finish the Classic with a 2-0 mark. The Cougars beat Brown Mackie 76-73 the previous night and are now 9-2 on the season. Barton will travel to the Jayhawk ShootOut in Coffeyville next weekend. Northeastern fell to 9-2 with the loss.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team inked 5 new players for next season and added a local redshirt freshman. In all, 3 of the 6 new players are from right here in Great Bend with a 4th just down the road in Lyons. The 5 signees will help form a bulk of next year’s team, which has just 4 players returning from an 18-12 season. The one thing they all have in common is each of their teams was in their respective state tournaments this year, netting a state championship for two players and a runner-up effort for another.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team wrapped up a difficult season Saturday with a loss to Seward County, 79-66, at the Barton County Gym. The Cougars completed their season with an 19-11 record – one game shy of a 20-win season – despite not having the chance to play in the post season due to NJCAA sanctions. The Cougars finished conference play with a 6-10 mark. Reggie Love was the lone healthy sophomore left on the roster to play in the final home contest. AJ Martin, a sophomore from Wichita like Love, was injured and was unable to suit up and play in his final game. Seward County finishes the regular season with a 21-9 record and a 7-9 West mark. Seward will travel to Independence for 1st round Region VI action.

Somebody forgot to tell the Barton County Community College men’s basketball team its has nothing to play for. Down to just 9 players and no post-season in the future, Barton County is playing its best basketball for quite some time. The Cougars made it 2 in a row over the top teams in the Jayhawk West with a 54-48 win over Dodge City at the Barton County Gym Wednesday night. Dodge City came into the contest leading the West and left in a tie with Cloud County. The same Cloud County team that Barton handed its 1st home loss to just last Saturday. Barton led much of the contest and did not trail nearly the entire 2nd half. The Cougars moved to 18-11 overall on the season and 6-9 in the West. Dodge City falls to 20-9 and 10-5.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team did something not other team had done all season Saturday night in Concordia – defeat Cloud County in the cozy environment of Arley Bryant Gymnasium. Barton had to survive a miscalculation of a couple of inches and missed 90-footer by a couple of inches in overtime to hand the Thunderbirds the loss, 71-70. The loss dealt a blow to Cloud’s West title hopes as well as give it its only home loss of the year in the regular season home finale at Bryant Gym. The win improved the Cougars to 17-11 overall this year and 5-9 in West play. Cloud fell to 10-5 in the West and 21-8 overall. Barton has two more home contests left in its season, hosting Dodge City and Seward County in the final week.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team came up just short Wednesday night on the road, dropping a 66-63 contest to Butler County at the Power Plant in El Dorado. Barton had a last-second shot to even the score and send the game to overtime, but the shot bounded long, giving Barton another tough loss in Jayhawk West play. Barton had chances to win the game, but it was Butler who made the plays down the stretch. The loss drops the Cougars to 4-9 in the West and 16-11 overall. Butler remained in the top half of the West and looking to get a home playoff contest in the opening round of Region VI by improving to 7-6 in the West and 18-9 overall. The Cougars will play their final road game of the season Saturday when they travel to Concordia to play Cloud County.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team fell victim to some great shooting from Hutchinson Saturday night, losing to the Blue Dragons in Jayhawk West action. The Cougars dropped a 78-62 decision at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson. During the contest the Blue Dragons hit a season-high 12 3-pointers. The loss drops the Cougars to 4-8 in the West and 16-10 overall this season. Hutchinson still has an outside shot at the West title with a 7-5 mark in West play and a 15-10 overall mark. Barton will be on the road two more times before returning home as the Cougars are in the midst of a 3-game road swing. That will continue Wednesday night in El Dorado as the Cougars take on Butler County at the Power Plant.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team put an end to its 3-game losing skid with an impressive 90-75 win over Colby Wednesday night at the Barton County. The Cougars staked an early lead in the contest and never trailed in the game on its way to the home win. It was a night that saw 3 Cougars hit career scoring highs, one career rebound high and one career assist high. With the win Barton moves to 4-7 in the Jayhawk West and 16-9 overall, assuring the Cougars of an overall winning mark this season. Colby fell to 4-8 overall and 11-14 for the season. The Cougars will be back in action Saturday when they travel to the Sports Arena in Hutchinson to take on the Blue Dragons in an 8 pm tip.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team led nearly the entire basketball game but once again couldn’t put their opponents away. And, once again, it came back to bite them. The Cougars saw their lead – double digit for a portion of the 2nd half – disappear with a 66-64 loss to Pratt Saturday at the Barton County Gym. The loss drops Barton to 3-6 in the West and 15-8 overall while Pratt keeps its West title hopes alive, improving to 5-4 in West play and 16-7 overall. The Cougars are back in action Wednesday when they travel to Garden City to take on the Broncbusters in an 8 pm tip

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team led at the halfway mark of its road trip to Liberal Wednesday night for Jayhawk West action but the 2nd half belonged to the host Seward County Saints, who rode the big 2nd half to a 72-57 win over the Cougars at the Green House. Seward County outscored the Cougars by 19 points in the half to give them the home win. Barton’s Thiago Cordeiro turned in a triple-double for the Cougars in a losing effort. The loss drops the Cougars to 15-7 overall this season and 3-5 in West play. Seward improves 17-5 and 3-5. Barton will back home Saturday as the Cougars begin their 2nd trip through the West when Pratt visits on Homecoming night at the Barton County Gym.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team found that formula that had worked so well for the 1st 16 games of the season, including the 1st 2 Jayhawk West games. It came back to Barton Saturday night in an 89-66 drubbing of then West co-leader Cloud County at the Barton County Gym. The win halted a 4-game losing skid for the Cougars and kept Barton just a pair of games out of the West lead. Barton improved to 3-4 in the West with the win and 15-6 overall this season. Cloud fell to 4-3 in the West and a game off the lead. The Thunderbirds are now 15-6 overall as well. Barton will be back on the road for a long Wednesday trip to Liberal to take on Seward County.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball struggled to score points Wednesday night at the Civic Center in Dodge City for the 2nd straight season. The result was a 59-41 loss to the Conquistadors in Jayhawk West action. Last season Barton escaped Dodge with a 43-41 win, scoring the 2nd lowest total points in school history. Wednesday night moved last season’s output to No. 3 lowest all-time, replacing it at the No. 2 spot. Barton hit just 31 percent from the floor as the Cougars dropped their 4th straight contest. Barton is now 14-6 overall this season and 2-4 in the West. Dodge City moves into a tie atop the West with a 4-2 mark in conference play. The Conquistadors are 14-6 overall. Barton will host Cloud County – also tied for the top spot in the West – Saturday night at the Barton County.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team lost another tough contest Saturday night, falling in overtime to Hutchinson, 89-80, at the Barton County Gym. The Cougars were in control of the game much of the night but a questionable buzzer-beating 3-pointer off the board by Hutch at the end of regulation kept the Cougars from the win. Hutch then rolled to the 9-point win over the Cougars in the overtime in Jayhawk West play. The loss was the 3rd in a row – one by 2 points and this one in overtime – for Barton, which fell to 2-3 in West play and 14-5 overall. Hutchinson moved to 3-2 in the West and 11-7 overall this season. It was the 3rd straight win for Hutch and the 1st in Great Bend in 10 years. Barton will be back on the road Wednesday when it travels to Dodge City for an 8 pm in West play.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team lost back-to-back games for the 1st time this season when Butler County came into Great Bend and defeated the Cougars. Barton fell on its home floor by a 76-66 score to Butler Wednesday night at the Barton County Gym. The Cougars trailed throughout the contest as they fell to 2-2 in the Jayhawk West and 14-4 overall this season. The win improved the Grizzlies to 2-2 in the West as well – a logjam of 5 teams are 2-2 – and 13-5 overall. Barton will tangle with another 2-2 team in the West Saturday as Hutchinson pays a visit to the Barton County Gym.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team dropped a heart-breaking game on Wednesday, traveling to Colby to face the Trojans. The Cougars fought hard to keep the game close, even having a chance to go ahead or tie on the last possession of the contest. A missed three pointer at the buzzer by Barton gave Colby the 88-86 home victory over the Cougars. Barton’s record falls to 2-1 in Jayhawk West competition, 14-3 overall. Colby’s record moves to 8-8 overall, and just 1-2 in conference play.

The Barton County Community College men’s basketball team is beginning to show the rest of the Jayhawk Conference it is indeed a team that wants to compete for the Jayhawk West title. While the Cougars are on probation and can not win the West title, Barton can still finish the season with the best record and call themselves champs. While that is a long ways off and very tough road to follow, the Cougars are off to a good start, adding a win over defending West champion Garden City Saturday at the Barton County to go along with their win over the defending Region VI champion Pratt Wednesday night in Pratt. Barton won 76-70 in its West home opener to move to 2-0 in the conference and 14-2 overall. That puts the Cougars in a 1st place tie with Cloud County at the top of the West standings. Garden fell to 1-1 in the West and 12-3 overall.