Cougars' season ends on last second shot
This time is was Barton County on the receiving end of a heartbreaking shot at the Region VI quarterfinals. The Cougars lost to Coffeyville at the buzzer when Fred Marshall hit a 12-footer in the lane for an 89-87 win at the Bicentennial Center in Salina. The loss, which came to down to a matter of the possession arrow, ends Barton's season at 22-10. Coffeyville (31-1) moves into semifinal action today Tuesday against Dodge City at 6 p.m.
Highlights
The Cougars led just about the entire second half, pushing the lead to as many as nine points with less than 10 minutes to play. But Coffeyville, the No. 2 ranked in the country, wouldn't give in. The Red Ravens tied the game with one minute to play when Griffin Walker hit two free throws after Robert Whaley picked up his fifth foul. That came on the heels of an offensive rebound following a Coffeyville miss.
The Cougars ran the clock down to 35 seconds when Jason Carter drove the lane and went up for a shot, but he had the ball knocked loose and into the hands of the Red Ravens. However, following a Coffeyville timeout with 15 seconds to play, Carter knocked the ball free and the battle for the loose ball ended in a jump ball call with 2.7 seconds to play. Coffeyville had the possession arrow in its favor, and took the ball inbounds on their own half of the court, where Marshall hit the shot at the buzzer.
The game is a bit of redemption for the Red Ravens, who were eliminated by Barton County in the quarterfinals last season when the Coguars' Ebi Ere canned a 30-footer at the buzzer of a tie game to send Barton to the semifinals. Barton eventually won the Region VI tournament and took 7th at the NJCAA National Tournament.
Carter led the Cougars with 24 points in his final game at Barton County. Whaley added 18 and sophomore Elisha Fields contributed 16 points. Rapheal Posey, also a sophomore, finished with 14 points. Devin Smith led Coffeyville with 28 points, including a 6-of-9 effort to 3-pointers. Marshall, who hit the game winner, made just two field goals during the game and ended with 7 points.
Stats
Game boxes and cumulative stats can be found at the following website.
Barton County Men's Basketball Online at http://www.barton.cc.ks.us/sports/MB_01-02/mbasketball_01-02.htm