BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
One hurdle stood between the Barton men’s basketball team and a showdown with the sixth ranked team in the country for the top spot it the Jayhawk Conference.
That proved to be a quick hurdle to clear.
The Cougars scored the game’s first 15 points on the way to an easy Jayhawk Conference win over Dodge City Wednesday night at the Barton Gym. Barton won, 97-74, in a game that wasn’t even that close.
“The difference between our team from one week ago to now is big,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. Barton lost at home last Wednesday to Allen County in it’s only loss of the season.
“Since that loss, we have a whole new focus. Our last two games we have played some pretty good basketball.”
The win improved Barton to 11-1 overall and more importantly 7-1 in the Jayhawk. The Conquistadors are 5-6 and 3-5.
The win sets up a showdown with No. 6 Hutchinson Saturday. The Blue Dragons nearly didn’t clear their hurdle Wednesday. Hutch was down by as many as 18 in the first half before a 3-pointer with one second left gave Hutch an 82-81 win in a game Blue Dragon Coach Steve Eck was ejected from in the first half.
That leaves Barton, Hutchinson, and Coffeyville tied at the top of the Jayhawk at 7-1.
The Cougars bolted out of the gates to that 15-0 start against Dodge City. Before the Conquistadors could score a single point, they had used two timeouts to try to slow the Cougars onslaught.
Keshon Montague started with a trey on the first possession. That was followed by buckets from Marvin Cannon, Kawanise ‘Squeaky’ Wilkins, Elijah Ford and Ford again. Montague added another jumper as Barton made six of its first seven shots from the floor.
Akeem White joined the scoring foray to make it 15-0 before the Conquistadors finally scored more than 5:30 into the game. Dodge City missed its first 10 shots of the game.
Barton continued to play some of its best basketball of the season as the Cougars built their lead to a staggering 27-2 midway through the opening half and the media timeout.
If it were a prize fight, the referee probably would have stopped it at that point. For all practical purposes, the game was over just 10 minutes in.
It might have been better if it had. Sam Lorenzen, Barton’s sophomore sharp-shooter went down with a knee injury late in the opening half. With the big lead, Lorenzen did not return. His status for Saturday will be determined before the game.
By half, the Cougars had a commanding 56-21 lead.
The game did mark the return of Cannon to the lineup after missing the last game with an ankle injury.
Montague scored 19 to lead five Cougars in double figures. He was joined by Ford and Wilkins with 14 points and 10 rebounds apiece. Noah Webster scored 13 off the bench and Cannon 10 in his return.
Next up will be the latest showdown in one of the top rivalries in the Jayhawk. Barton will travel to Hutchinson for a 7:30 pm tip at the Sports Arena Saturday.
Barton 97, Dodge City 74
Dodge 21 53 – 74
Barton 56 41 – 97
Dodge City (5-6, 3-5) 74
Murphy 3-9 3-4 12, Howard 2-6 1-1 5, Dixon 5-10 0-0 14, Blackwell 0-1 0-0 0, Freels 2-3 2-2 6, Davis 1-4 2-2 4, McGroarty 3-10 0-0 6, Anderson 3-9 3-4 11, Seniguar 2-2 0-0 4, McCray 1-7 0-0 2, Hodges 4-13 0-0 10. Totals – 26-74 11-13 74.
Barton (11-1, 7-1) 97
Wilkins 4-9 5-6 14, Lorenzen 3-4 0-0 6, Ford 6-12 2-2 14, Cannon 3-7 4-4 10, Montague 8-11 0-2 19, Andrews 2-3 0-0 4, Seydi 0-0 0-0 0, Haist 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 0-1 2-2 2, Thomas 0-1 2-2 2, White 3-8 0-0 6, Webster 4-1 3-4 13, Dalyrimple 0-0 0-0 0, Broomfield 3-5 0-0 7. Totals – 36-71 18-22 97.
3-pointers – Dodge 11-34 (Dixon 4-8, Murphy 3-7, Anderson 2-6, Hodges 2-8, Howard 0-1, Blackwell 0-1, McGroarty 0-3); Barton 7-17 (Montague 3-5, Webster 2-7, Broomfield 1-1, Wilkins 1-3, Lorenzen 0-1).
Rebounds – Dodge 35 (Davis 6); Barton 50 (Wilkins 10, Ford 10). Assists – Dodge 16 (Dixon 8); Barton 15 (Montague 3, Wilkins 3, Andrews 3). Steals – Dodge 8 (McGroarty 4); Barton 9 (Lorenzen 2, Webster 2). Blocks – Dodge 2 (Howard, Seniguar). Barton 2 (Cannon, Ford)
Turnovers – Dodge 16, Barton 14. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – None.
