BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
EL DORADO — Coming off a three-week layoff can bring a variety of results.
The one seen the least often is the one Barton had in store for Butler Saturday afternoon at the Power Plant in El Dorado.
It was a performance that was among the best of the year for the Cougars as they rolled to a 97-84 win.
Even more impressive is that the win didn’t come against a low level foe. Butler brought an 11-3 record to the contest and a 4-1 Jayhawk mark. That included a 73-63 win over then No. 2 ranked Hutchinson back just before the break.
Barton (12-2, 4-1 Jayhawk) moved ahead of Hutchinson (12-2, 4-2 Jayhawk) for first place in the West. Butler (11-4, 4-2) drops to third in the East.
“Some of that is because this team stayed in basketball shape during the break,” Coach Craig Fletchall said of the strong performance. “A lot of time you spend time in practice getting back into shape and don’t do many basketball things.
“This group came back ready and we were able to do basketball things pretty much from the time they returned.”
The Cougars poured it on from the opening tip. The Cougars led 6-0 and never trailed.
Barton got the lead to double figures at 16-5 on a Mavrick Gildyard 3-pointer. Following an 8-0 run capped by a traditional 3-point play Gildyard, Barton led 29-10 just past the halfway mark of the opening half.
The Grizzlies would get the down to 10, 41-31, after a trio of technical fouls were whistled between the two teams.
But the Cougars closed the final 1:40 of the first half with a bang.
The Cougars got a trey from Diovonte Caldwell, a jumper and free throw from Keandre Bowles, a 3-pointer from El Dorado’s own Jarin Koehler and a final trey from Bowles all during a 1:30 span to take a 53-34 lead to halftime.
It was a half that saw Barton sizzle on offense. The Cougars hit 58 percent from the field and connected on 7-of-14 on 3-pointers.
Barton kept Butler at bay early on in the second half.
Just 25 seconds in Jaheim Holden knocked down a trey and when Justin Harmon hammered down a tomahak dunk on a fast break, the Cougars led 63-36 with 16:46 left in the game.
Butler got the lead under 20 after back-to-back 3’s Javaunte Hawkins with 12:41 left at 65-48, bringing back memories of the big blown lead at Indy before the Cougars rallied for a win.
Butler trimmed the lead to 69-55 with 10:50 left. But a 3-pointer and deep two from Holden gave Barton a 74-55 lead and allowed the Cougars to take a deep breath.
Another Holden bucket got the lead back to 20 at 78-58 as the teams headed to the media timeout with 8:15 to play.
The Grizzlies continued their late game flurry. At that 6-minute mark it down to 80-67. Butler got the lead down to 82-71 but Martin Vogts pushed it back to 13 on a jumper with 4:14 to play.
The lead got under 10 after a turnover by Barton and layup by Hawkins with 3:03 left to make it an 86-77 game.
A Gildyard free throw made it 87-77 then Harmon made 1-of-2 as well to make it 88-77 with 2:13 left. Butler would get no closer.
Gildyard would extend it to 91-77 with a 3-point play at the 1:37 mark on his way to a career-high night.
Holden led Barton with 24 points followed by Gildyard and his career night of 22. Bowles added 14 off the bench and Vogts tossed in 10.
Hawkins led Butler a quartet of Butler players in double figures with 22.
Barton will at home Wednesday when Cloud County visits the Barton Gym for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
BARTON 97, BUTLER 84
Barton 53 44 c– 97
Butler 34 50 – 84
BARTON (4-1, 12-2) – Holden 7-15 7-9 24, Bowles 5-10 1-3 14, Vogts 2-8 6-6 10, Harmon 3-4 3-6 9, Munson 2-4 0-0 4, Koehler 1-2 0-0 3, Caldwell 3-4 0-0 7, Ennenking 2-3 0-0 4, Gildyard 9-12 3-6 22. Totals – 34-62 20-30 97.
BUTLER (4-2, 11-4) – Hawkins 7-17 4-4 22, White 5-16 3-5 14, Easter 2-9 11-14 15, Hopkins 4-7 1-2 9, Ndaw 1-6 2-2 4, Brice 1-4 1-2 3, Butler 0-1 0-0 0, Dickerson 6-9 0-1 15, Jones 1-5 0-0 2. Totals – 27-74 22-30 84.
3-pointers–Barton 9-22 (Bowles 3-5, Holden 3-6, Koehler 1-1, Gildyard 1-1, Caldwell 1-2, Harmon 0-1), Butler 8-25 (Hawkins 4-11, Dickerson 3-5, White 1-5, Easter 0-2, Brice 0-2). Rebounds–Barton 35 (Enneking 7), Butler 35 (Ndaw 8). Assists–Barton 14 (Holden 3, Caldwell 3), Butler 10 (Easter 3). Steals–Barton 6 (Vogts 3), Butler 5 (5 with 1). Blocks–Barton 4 (Vogts 2), Butler 3 (3 with 1). Turnovers – Barton 15, Butler 11. Fouled out–Ndaw. Technicals–Harmon, Gildyard, Barton; Easter, Ndaw, Butler.
JAYHAWK WEST MEN
Barton 4-1 12-2
Colby 3-1 11-2
Hutchinson 4-2 12-2
Pratt 2-3 8-6
Seward 1-4 8-6
Garden City 1-4 7-7
Dodge City 0-5 8-6
NW Tech 0-6 2-11
JAYHAWK EAST MEN
Allen 6-0 11-4
Cowley 5-1 13-3
Independence 4-2 13-3
Butler 4-2 11-4
Neosho 2-3 6-8
Coffeyville 3-3 11-5
Cloud 2-4 8-7
SATURDAY—Allen 87, Hutchinson 80; Barton 97, Butler 84; Coffeyville 65, Seward 63; Colby 109, Cowley 107; Cloud 68, NW Tech 64, OT; Independence 84, Garden 69; No. Oklahoma 83, Dodge 75; Pratt 80, Neosho 77, OT;
WEDNESDAY—Allen at NW Tech; Cloud at Barton; Colby at Coffeyville; Cowley at Dodge; Garden at Neosho; Independence at Seward; Kansas City at Hutchinson; Pratt at Butler
