It was one of those November Classic schedules where you just go get it done. A pair of games that should be easily won.
The Barton Community College men’s basketball team did just that for the most part this weekend in Salina. The Cougars rolled to a pair of easy wins at the Brown Mackie Classic this past weekend by 20 points in each contest.
Barton defeated Central Community College out of Nebraska Friday afternoon by an 86-66 county then returned to the gym Saturday for an almost identical win of 88-68 over the Northwest Tech College JV.
“You just go and hold serve,” coach Craig Fletchall said. “You playing in the afternoon with hardly anyone there against teams you know you should beat. It seems like we struggle up there every year.”
In the win Friday, Barton started slowly in front of the sparse crowd at the gym on the campus of Kansas State-Salina. The Cougars led just 38-32 at half and still couldn’t shake the pesky Raiders a majority of the second half.
Much of the second half was spent with Barton taking a lead of 11-14 points and Central cutting it back to single digits.
Jalin Barnes, a sophomore from North Carolina, scored 18 to pace the Cougars. Kenny Enoch and Khalil Gracey each added 15 for Barton. Three-point shooting kept the Raiders close as Central hit 11-of-21 3-pointers compared to a 2-for-13 effort from Barton.
Thomas Johnson hit seven of those for Central to lead the Raiders with 25 points, who fell to 1-5.
Saturday was an easier day on the court. Barton opened a big first half lead and were never challenged in the win. The Cougars led 48-33 at intermission then outscored the Northwest Tech JV 40-35 in the second half.
Gracey, a freshman from Michigan, came off the bench to score 21 in leading six Cougars in double figures. Barnes and Eddie Hunt each added 13 with Tyrone Acuff adding 12.
“It was a lot the same thing the second day,” coach Fletchall said. “Both teams shot 30 threes against us. It just isn’t a great matchup for us. We just needed to stay with our game plan of rebounding and scoring on the inside.”
The Cougars have another JV on the slate tonight when the Sterling JV visits the Barton Gym for a 7:30 tip following the women’s game between the same two foes. The Cougars will take to the road Friday at Hesston.
“Hesston is pretty good,” coach Fletchall said. “We are going to need to step it up a notch to win on their floor. They played Hutch to a 6-point game in Hesston so we are going to have to right the ship this weekend to get a win.”