The great start rolls on.
The Barton men’s basketball team kept its perfect mark in Jayhawk Conference play in tact after a three week hiatus with a win over Allen County in Iola Saturday.
The Cougars made all the plays when they counted in an 80-72 win. The win moved Barton to 4-0 in the Jayhawk conference with three of those wins coming on the road. The Cougars are 12-3 overall this season and just one of two unbeatens left in the Jayhawk.
Hutchinson is 5-0 in the conference and leading while everyone else has at least two losses. Allen fell to 1-4 and 9-6.
“It wasn’t the prettiest basketball at times but we really played pretty well,” Barton Coach Craig Fletchall said. “We were sluggish to start the game but we played well in the second half.”
Perhaps the most important stretch of basketball occurred late in the first half. It was at that point the Cougars were facing their biggest deficit of the game. Thanks to an 8-0 run Allen built an 11 point lead.
Derrick Dorn came to the rescue. Dorn hit a pair of threes and Tyron Acuff added in a jumper between Dorn’s treys as Barton closed out the half on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 37-32 by intermission. The final points by Dorn just beat the buzzer.
“The finish to the first half was important,” Coach Fletchall said. “Derek scored just before the end of the half we I felt pretty good about things at half – considering how things started.”
It didn’t take the Cougars long to established a lead of their own to start the second half. Barton tied it at 42-all on put back by Anthony Smith. The Cougars took their first lead when Dorn stole the ball and converted a layup for a 48-46 advantage six minutes into the half.
Barton extended the lead to 53-46 and never trailed again. Allen got within three points before the Cougars closed out the game at the free throw line.
Dorn had a huge game with 21 points – the fourth time this season the sophomore transfer from Seward had reached the 20-point mark. Dequandre Dentmond added 15 points and John Barbee scored a career-high 13. Keith Mack added 11.
Jermaine Long led all scorers with 24 points for Allen.
Barton has two conference games this week as Independence comes to the Barton Gym before the Cougars head off to Chanute to take on Neosho County.
Indy is 2-3 in the Jayhawk and 11-3 overall. Its only three losses are to Hutch, Colby and Garden City – all three in the top six in the league. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Barton Gym.
Saturday the Cougars are off to Neosho. The Panthers are coming off a big double-overtime win against Garden City and are also 3-2 in the conference with losses to Hutch and Colby.  Tip for Saturday will be 4 p.m.