Johnson delivers Barton ticket back to Region VI Championship game
No one that has followed the Barton County Community College men's basketball team this year should have been surprised. But somehow, yet again, there was Omar Johnson coming with an improbable game-winning shot. This time the shot punched Barton's ticket back to the Region VI Championship game – a place the Cougars have been very familiar with over the past 9 years. Barton held back a furious late rally by Dodge City in the Region VI semifinals at Wichita's Koch Arena, beating Dodge 57-54 on Johnson's 3-pointer to move into the finals against another familiar foe – Coffeyville. The Cougars and Red Ravens will hook it up in the title game for the 2nd time in 4 years and battle for the 4th in the past 9 season in Region VI play. Barton has not been eligible the past 2 season, so this is the 4th time in 7 post-season possibilities the 2 teams have matched up. In fact, it the 2nd straight time Barton has made the finals when it is eligible.

Highlights
The Cougars were in control nearly the entire contest until the final two minutes. A 10-0 run early gave Barton an 18-6 lead, which grew to 25-10 late in the 1st half. The Cougars led by 11 at the half and led most of the 2nd half by double figures. Only 3 very brief times did Dodge cut the lead until 10 points the 1st 18 minutes of the 2nd half. But things got crazy the final 2 minutes.

After holding Dodge without a 3-point field goal the entire 2nd half, Barton allowed the Conquistadors their initial trey of the 2nd half with 1:50 left to cut a 10-point Barton led to 54-47. A Johnson turnover resulted in a bucket for Dodge. Following an Ivan Evans' turnover, Dodge's Angel Santiago hit his 2nd trey in 50 seconds to make it 54-52 with 50 seconds still to play. Another Johnson turnover on a cross court pass resulted in another Jarray Matthew's layup and tied had ran off 10 points in a matter of 55 seconds – all off Barton turnovers.

The Cougars had trouble getting the ball past half court again, but finally got it across the timeline and used a timeout with 44 seconds to play. From there, the offensive possession was not a pretty one for Barton with Johnson finding himself 25-feet from the basket, guarded by 2 Conqs the shot clock ran down. Johnson was able to dip and spin for an opening, then floated up an off-balance 3-pointer as the shot clock expired. The ball found nothing but the bottom of the net with 15 seconds to play. Dodge City got off a long 3-pointer on its possession that missed the mark, sending Barton to the Region VI title game. In Barton's quarterfinal win over Seward, Johnson hit a high-arching shot from the baseline in the final minute to give Barton the lead and the eventual win. Johnson also hit a game-winning 3-pointer against Brown Mackie earlier this season as well as hit several big shots late for Barton.

Johnson finished with 20 points to lead the Cougars while Thiago Cordeiro added 12 and Evans 10. Evans also had 12 rebounds for Barton while Cordeiro added 8 rebounds, 7 blocks, and had 4 steals playing all 40 minutes of playing time. Charles Coley had 16 to lead Dodge, followed by Santiago with 13.

The Region VI Championship with Coffeyville will feature some familiar foes – albeit after a 2-year post-season hiatus for the Cougars. Of the past 8 Region VI titles, the two clubs have won 6 of them – Coffeyville 4 and Barton 2. Over the past 9 years, Coffeyville is 25-4 in Region VI play while Barton is 19-4 in its 7 post-seasons the past 9 years. The two teams have each given each other 2 of those 4 losses with Barton and Coffeyville going 2-2 head-to-head in the Region VI tournament the past 9 years. They are a combined 40-4 against the rest of the field over that span. The game will also feature the only 2 Region VI to reach the NJCAA Championship game the past 10 years. Barton finished 2nd in 1999 and Coffeyville 2nd in 2002.

Stats
Full stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Tuesday, March 13 – v Coffeyville, 8 pm (Region VI Championship at Koch Arena in Wichita)

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Check out Barton County Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports