BY MACK McCLURE
mmcclure@gbtribune.com
 
Take nothing for granted in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division basketball race. Let your guard down, and some conference opponent might sneak up on you.
No team knows that better than Barton, which survived a barrage of first-half 3-pointers from last-place Colby and had to rally in the second half for a 65-64 victory over the Trojans on Wednesday night at Kirkman Athletic Center.
“Some of us coaches in the Jayhawk Conference have been talking about the parity that’s in the conference this season,” Barton head coach Craig Fletchall said.
The Cougars (16-5 overall, 4-3 KJCCC) will have another gut check on Saturday night, when Barton travels to Pratt to take on the Beavers (11-10, 2-5), who are next-to-last in the West standings, ahead of only Colby.
“It’s a tough place to play,” Fletchall said of Pratt. “It will be interesting. (The Beavers) beat Butler at home and they’re tough.”
Butler, you might recall, recently beat Barton in 81-77 in overtime.
So go the rigors in conference play.
 
Survival time
Trailing by just one point, Colby had the ball out of bounds near its own bench with 8.4 seconds left in regulation during Wednesday night’s nail-biter in Great Bend.
But Barton’s Adam Young blocked Hurley Johnson’s shot in the lane in the waning seconds to negate a huge upset bid by the Trojans (10-12, 1-7).
“The good thing is that we’ve started learning how to win,” Young said after Wednesday’s game. “In our first two road games (both losses), we didn’t know how to win.
“We know how to win now.”
Young finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a game where Barton came back from a 40-27 halftime deficit.
“His game definitely rose in the second half,” Fletchall said of Young, a native of Las Vegas. “(Young’s block) was huge. He’s a big body in the lane and with these teams really driving aggressively, it’s important to have someone like him on the floor on both ends.
“I think Adam, the fact that he’s been at the Division-I level (last season at Alabama A&M), he’s bringing that Division-I mentality to our program. He’s been a verbal leader, and I thought the intensity he showed at the start of the second half was probably the biggest difference in terms of setting a tone.”
Freshman swingman Jalen Boyd also helped bail out the Cougars, hitting a crucial 3-pointer with 3:29 left in regulation and then canning a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to give Barton a 65-64 lead that stood up in the late going.
“I think Jalen is just getting more comfortable at this level,” Fletchall said of Boyd, a Topeka High product. “He’s 20 games in now, so he’s not a freshman anymore. I think he’s playing aggressive on both ends.”

Saturday’s KJCCC games
    Independence at Kansas City Kansas (Women-2 p.m., Men-4 p.m.)
    Coffeyville at Fort Scott (W-2, M-4)
    Highland at Cowley (W-5, M-7)
    Johnson County at Labette (W-5:30, M-7:30)
    Barton at Pratt (W-6, M-8)
    Neosho County at Allen County (W-6, M-8)
    Butler at Seward County (W-6, M-8)
    Hutchinson at Cloud County (W-6, M-8)
 
WOMEN
Wednesday’s results
    Kansas City Kansas 64, Fort Scott 40
    (#14) Hutchinson 69, Pratt 26
    Garden City 68, Seward County 67
    Butler 78, Cloud County 65
    (#7) Independence 60, Highland 50
    (D-II #2) Johnson County 70, Neosho County 32
    Cowley 72, Allen County 51
    Coffeyville 67, Labette 52
    Barton 88, Colby 75
 
MEN
Wednesday’s results
    Kansas City Kansas 68, Fort Scott 48
    Butler 70, Cloud County 53
    (#7) Hutchinson 97, Pratt 68
    (#20) Seward County 72, Garden City 65
    Independence 98, Highland 96, OT
    Neosho County 97, (D-II #9) Johnson County 88
    Cowley 75, Allen County 70, OT
    (#9) Coffeyville 116, Labette 50
    Barton County 65, Colby 64
    (Latest NJCAA ranking in parentheses)