Barton splits games at Booster Club Classic; beats McPherson JV

Barton splits games at Booster Club Classic; beats McPherson JV

The Barton Community College men's basketball team sandwiched its first loss of the year with a pair of wins during a busy 4-day stretch over an extended weekend. The Cougars spilt games in the Cougar Booster Club Classic over the weekend then defeated the McPherson JV Monday night at the Barton Gym. Barton defeated Quakerdale Friday night at the classic then suffered an overtime loss to Independence Saturday for the 1st loss of the year. Barton is now 7-1 on the season and will be back in action at the Thanksgiving Classic at Hutchinson this weekend to face Hill College and Ranger College, both from Texas.  

Highlights
The Cougars and Pirates locked up in a battle Saturday night with 12 lead changes and 11 ties in the 92-85 overtime contest won by Independence. Barton jumped out to an early led in the contest leading by as many as 12 points midway through the opening half of play. But Indy came roaring back to cut the margin as low as three late in the half. Barton took a 42-37 lead to the locker room.

The Pirates quickly caught the Cougars to start the 2nd 20 minutes and a half that consisted of nearly all of those ties and lead changes unfolded. Indy built their lead to as many as 6 on a pair of occasions, the latest at 69-63 with 7:49 to play. Barton answered back with a 9-2 run for a 72-71 lead with 5:24 to play. Barton was able to get the lead to 3 at 77-74 following the games' 5th technical foul when Colin Beatty knocked down the 1st of 2 free throws with 2:53 left. It was Independence's turn for a run as the Pirates took an 81-79 lead with just 1:13 left on a short jumper from Titus Rubles.

Barton Chris Cantino stepped up and hit a pair of free throws to tie the game again with 48 ticks left. Each team had a shot to win but came up short and the game went to overtime tied at 81-all. Indy controlled the overtime as Barton was able to score just 4 points in the extra frame.

Five Cougars reached double figures led by Cantino with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Dwayne Brunson also recorded a double-double with 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Beatty scored 16, Carl Wallace 12 and Storm Sanders 11. Wallace also had 6 assists and Sanders added 4. Cantino blocked 4 shots for Barton. Anthony Downing and Rubles had huge games for Indy with Downing scoring 29 points and Rubles added 15 points and 16 rebounds.

The Cougars were a bit sluggish Friday night in a 59-48 win over Quakerdale. Barton shot just 32 percent from the floor (21-of-66) in the win and just 44 percent from the free throw line (11-of-25). Ironically the best shooting percentage for the Cougars on the night was the 33 percent it hit on 3-pointers (6-of-18). Brunson scored 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Barton while Cantino recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Beatty added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Chris Oliveria scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Quakerdale.

The Cougars capped off the extended weekend with a 110-73 win over the McPherson College JV Monday night. The Cougars were once again sluggish at times early in the game but found their stride with a 63-point 2nd half. All 10 players scored for the Cougars with 9 scoring at least 8 points. Barton was led by Kevin Barber with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Brunson added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Adam young scored 18 points and collected 9 boards just missing a double-double as did Cantino at 14 points and 9 rebounds. Also just missing double-doubles were Darius Hill with 8 points and 10 rebounds and Devonte Grant with 8 points and 9 assists. Joey Powers scored 18 and Jeff Bontrager added 17 for the Bulldogs.  

Stats
Stats can be found was www.bartonsports.com  

Next
Nov 26 – v Hill College 3:30 pm (Thanksgiving Classic at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson)
Nov 27 – v Ranger College 3:30 pm (Thanksgiving Classic at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson)