By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Barton beats Neosho; alone atop Jayhawk Conference
spt BartonCougarsBlue

When Barton lost sophomore sharp-shooter Sam Lorenzen to a knee injury at semester for the remainder of the year, the Cougars were without a key 3-pointer shooter.
Kian Dalyrimple filled that need just fine Saturday night at the Barton Gym.
The freshman knocked down four treys in a 3-minute span to spark Barton in the second half as the Cougars rallied yet again from a halftime deficit for the Jayhawk Conference win.
Barton trailed at half – and by as many as nine in the second half – before pulling out a 97-83 win over Neosho County at the Barton Gym.
“That stretch from Kian was big for us,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. “It seemed to take the lid off the outside shot for us. We had struggled to score from the outside until Kian knocked a few down, then it seemed like everyone was making 3-pointers.”
Barton is now 11-2 in the Jayhawk Conference and 15-2 overall as the Cougars hit the halfway mark of the conference schedule. Neosho is 3-10 and 5-11.
It was the sixth time in 11 wins that Barton trailed as half.
The No. 21 Cougars are now alone at the top of the Jayhawk Conference after Hutchinson lost at home to Dodge City, 72-70. The No. 8 Blue Dragons fall to 10-3
Cowley and Coffeyville are both 9-4.
The Cougars scored the first four points and jumped to a 7-2 lead. But Barton couldn’t not put significant distance between themselves and visiting Panthers.
It seemed every time the Cougars were on the verge of taking a double figure lead, Neosho would fight back to within a basket or two.
Neosho finally overtook Barton late in the half after back-to-back treys by Lual Dung. The 6-7 sophomore’s second of those gave Neosho a 38-37 lead with 2:56 left in the half. That lead would reach three after Dung tipped in his own miss for a 40-37 score 2:16 before half.
By intermission, the Panthers had a 46-41 lead, closing out the first half on a 14-4 run.
The Neosho lead reached nine points early in the second half after Dung hit a lay-up and ensuing free throw for a 54-45 lead with 17:15 left.
Barton’s rally started with a 3-pointer from the left corner by Dalyrimple, a reverse layup by Marvin Cannon and a dunk by Kawanise ‘Squeaky’ Wilkins to tie it at 56-all with 14:11 to play.
The Cougars took a 59-58 lead the next trip down on another trey from Dalyrimple. A third trey from Dalyrimple the following possession gave the Cougars a 62-60 lead.
The 3-point parade continued for Barton as a fourth trey by Dalyrimple then one by Noah Webster gave Barton a 70-67 lead with 11:22 to play.
The Cougars would not trail again. A Wilkins 3-pointer pushed that lead to 75-69 with 9:23 left. Back-to-back treys from Cannon made it 81-73 with 6:38 to play.
Yet another trey, this one from Webster, finally gave Barton a double digit lead, 84-73.
Cannon led Barton with a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds, playing all but three minutes in the win. It was his first double-double as a Cougar.
He was joined with a double-double by Wilkins with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Webster and Dalyrimple both finished with four 3-pointers and 16 points. Keshon Montague struggled shooting, hitting just 2-of-10 from the floor, but the point guard handed out 10 assists.
The Cougars ended with 12 3-pointers, 10 of those in the second half.
Austin Downing led Neosho with 27 points while Lual Dung finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Barton will travel to Colby Wednesday night to battle the Trojans as the teams begin their second time through the conference. Barton won an overtime battle in Great Bend back in November. Tip at the Community Building is set for 8 pm.

Barton 97, Neosho 83
Neosho 46 37 – 83
Barton 41 56 – 97
Neosho (3-9, 5-10) 83
Dung 9-19 1-5 22, Kohman 2-5 2-2 6, Fenner 3-9 6-6 14, Larcom 1-5 0-0 3, Downing 10-19 7-7 27, Ray 2-5 0-0 4, Kuwornu 2-2 3-4 7, Sardin 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals – 29-65 19-24 83.
Barton (10-2 14-2) 97
Wilkins 5-9 3-4 14, Ford 2-9 3-3 7, Cannon 12-18 4-4 30, Montague 2-12 0-0 5, Webster 5-10 2-3 16, Dalyrimple 5-13 2-2 16, Andrews 1-1 1-2 3, White 2-2 2-2 6, Broomfield 0-2 0-0 0. Totals – 34-76 17-20 97.
3-pointers – Neosho 6-19 (Dung 3-5, Fenner 2-6, Larcom 1-5, Taylor 0-1, Downing 0-2); Barton 12-29 (Dalyrimple 4-87, Webster 4-9, Cannon 2-2, Wilkins 1-2, Montague 1-7, Ford 0-1).
Rebounds – Neosho 37 (Dung 16); Barton 44 (Cannon 11, Wilkins 10). Assists – Neosho 7 (Dung 3); Barton 24 (Montague 10). Steals – Neosho 6 (Fenner 3); Barton 7 (Cannon 3). Blocks – Neosho 1 (Dung); Barton 7 (Dalyrimple 4).
Turnovers – Neosho 15, Barton 9. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – Ford, Barton.