Cougar men fight off Red Ravens, Barton women edge past Penn Valley

BY JOHN J. MESH

The Barton Community College men’s basketball team pulled away from the Coffeyville Red Ravens for a 75-63 victory Saturday night in the final game of the Booster Club Classic at the Barton gymnasium.

The Barton women also survived a nail-biter Saturday with 73-68 win over Penn Valley, Mo.

The Cougar men improved to 7-2 and dropped the Red Ravens to 3-4.

Coffeyville was ranked 25th in the NJCAA Division I men’s preseason poll.

Barton trailed 59-58 but the Cougars went on a 9-0 run and scored the final 10 points of the game.

Dennan Morrow, a sophomore from Larned, fired in 18 points, including four 3-pointers. He hit a pair of technical free throws during the Cougars’ final run and two more with 30 seconds left.

Kevin Smith scored all 13 of his points in the second half, including 9 in the final 4 minutes. He hit a clutch 3-pointer during the stretch — his first trey of the season.

Ronald Baker hit four free throws in the final minute and scored 8 points.

Samer Jassar had just 2 points but hustled his way for 13 rebounds.

Collin Beatty scored 12 points, Karon Burton 9, Joe Reid 8 and Ebenezer Davis 5.

Kevin Broussard led Coffeyville with 16 points. Justin Johnson scored 10.

“Coffeyville is a top-ranked team,” said Barton men’s coach Craig Fletchall. “We have a lot of respect for coach (Jay) Herkelman.

“He plays a tough schedule. We played five games in seven days. We wanted to show improvement and leave a good taste in our mouths.

“We had to show improvement. it was a conference atmosphere. It will help us prepare. I was pleased with the effort on the boards tonight. Dennan’s 3-pointers were huge.”

The Barton men compete in the Pratt Thanksgiving Classic Friday and Saturday.

Barton plays Cowley at 4 p.m. Friday and the Friends University junior varsity at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Barton women 73,

Penn Valley 68

The Barton women’s basketball snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-68 win over Penn Valley, Mo. — the same team Barton will play Friday on the road.

Barton got two key blocked shots from 6-foot-2 sophomore Annie Kassango, who also hit the go-ahead bucket with 30 seconds left in the game. Kassango finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds.

St. John freshman Alisha Fanshier hit a layup and 1-of-2 free throws for the final 73-68 margin.

Fanshier scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Raven Ward added 18 point for the Cougars (4-4).

Barton jumped out to a 16-2 lead and led 40-29 at halftime. Penn Valley (6-2) led 68-66 with 1:02 left in the game. Barton scored the final 7 points.

Hannah Rotollo had 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Abbey McKenzie had 3 points and 11 rebounds.

Austyn Hildebrandt and Leah Smith each scored 13 points for Penn Valley and Candice Akers scored 10.

Three players had double digit rebounds for Penn Valley — Akers 13, Hildebrandt 12 and Jessica Williams 11.

Penn Valley outrebounded Barton 67-61, including a 36-18 edge on the offensive glass.

Barton committed 31 turnovers.

Neither team shot well from the free throw line — Barton was 23-of-35 and Penn Valley was 16-of-27.

“That was a nice win for us,” said Barton women’s coach Keith Ferguson.

“The kids fought hard — we had to pull that one out. We still need to show up Monday (at practice) and do some work.

“We’ve got to prepare for how physical they’re going to be. We’ve got to focus on our offensive deficiencies.”

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Barton men 91,

Labette 56

The Barton men thumped Labette 91-56 in the first round of the Booster Club Classic Friday night.

Four Cougars scored in double figures. Collin Beatty scored 14 points, Karon Burton 13, Dennan Morrow 12 and Joe Reid 10.

Kevin Smith added 9, Ebenezer Davis 8, Ronald Baker 8, Tyler Springer 7, Samer Jassar 6 and Marcus Johnson 4.

Beatty added 11 rebounds for a double-double.

Shavis Tindall led Labette with 11 points. Larry Barber added 10.

Eastern Oklahoma women 70,

Barton 57

The Eastern Oklahoma women defeated Barton 70-57.

Shantoya Fisher led Eastern Oklahoma with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Tarra Kania had 14 points.

Annie Kassango paced Barton with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Alisha Fanshier scored 12 points and Raven Ward 8. The Cougars committed 31 turnovers.

In other tournament games Friday, the Coffeyville men edged Eastern Oklahoma 74-65 and the Cloud County women beat Penn Valley 58-47.

In other games Saturday, the Labette men defeated Eastern Oklahoma 71-62 and the Cloud County women defeated Eastern Oklahoma 56-54.