Early-season basketball games for Barton Community College gives BCC men’s head coach Craig Fletchall an opportunity to tinker with different rotations.
Such was the case Monday night during the Cougars’ season-opener at the Kirkman Athletic Center.
Liberally running nine players in-and-out of the lineup throughout, Fletchall found several solid combinations during a 105-64 rout of the Bethany junior varsity.
“We’re talented, young and raw,” Fletchall said. “They need to take coaching a little better, but their athletic, talented and enjoy playing. That’s what I like; that they like to play the game.”
Sophomore Colin Beatty led the six Cougars in double-figure scoring with a game-high 20 points in 25 minutes of action, including 9-for-15 shooting.
“Six guys in double figures,” Fletchall said, “I think sometimes in a game like this, you can tend to get a little selfish and I thought our guys were unselfish.
“Twenty-eight assists …  I thought we made the extra pass and that pleased me in a game like this. I thought Bethany did a good job keeping it close early in the first half.”
Chris Cantino added 14, and Storm Sanders had 13 points and five assists. Jalen Boyd and Carl Wallace also scored 13 apiece, with Wallace dishing out a team-high nine assists. Kevin Barber added 12 points.
Post player Adam Young had four points and dominated underneath the backboards with 12 rebounds for BCC.
The Cougars rode an early run in the first half to build a 54-35 halftime advantage.
Bethany closed an early deficit to 14-13 after Derek Banzhaf nailed a 3-pointer at the 14:08 mark. But Barton went on a decisive 14-2 run over the next three minutes to extend its lead to 28-15 and for all practical purposes, spelled beginning of the end for the Swedes.
Beatty, the only returning letterman from last season, scored the final seven points of the run to give the Cougars early momentum. Like he did last season, Beatty was used inside and out.
Carl Wallace and Cantino started the surge with baskets, followed by Sanders converting a three-point play.
That was Beatty’s cue to make his impact. He slammed home a breakaway dunk, knocked down a 3-ball from the right-corner pocket and then elevated for an alley-oop slam, courtesy of a Sanders lob.
“I thought our guys, for the first game, we’re probably trying to create too much and try to make the fancy pass,” Fletchall said. “I thought Colin’s pace was exceptional.
“Right now, we lack some post depth and with Chris and (post player) Adam (Young) in foul trouble in the first half, we went small and that’s one of our goals this year that we can play different styles.
“Colin went to play in the post when we made that run. He was inside for us like he was a year ago, and I thought that his experience helped him during the run.”
Bethany later carved the margin to 34-24, topped off by Conor Reilly’s 3-pointer at the 8:36 mark.
But Wallace got a dunk on the other end, setting in motion a 20-11 half-ending run for the Cougars.
The second half was merely a formality, with Barton steadily increasing its lead and trying different combinations.