It was becoming commonplace for the Barton women’s basketball team.
For the fourth straight year, the Cougars found themselves playing for a Region VI Championship.
But what hadn’t happened in any of three previous years was Barton winning that Region VI title.
That changed Saturday afternoon in Wichita.
The Cougars won their first Region VI title in 15 years Saturday afternoon knocking off Coffeyville, 60-56.
The title was the first for 7th year Barton Coach Alan Clark.
“We’ve been talking about it since last spring and again this August,” Coach Clark said of the Region VI title.
“We’ve been building toward this the past several years. We got a little better each year. This year they believed they would get it done. They did just that. I could not be more happy for these girls.”
Leading nearly the entire way, things got interesting in the final minute as Coffeyville cut the Barton lead to just three with 43 seconds to play.
But Brennan Kirchhoff stepped up. Barton was just 9-of-12 at the free throw line and the Cougars had just missed a pair, setting up the Red Ravens to make it a 3-point game to that point.
No problem for the sophomore guard from Cedar.
Kirchhoff knocked down a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left, two more with 21 seconds to play, another duo with 12 ticks left and finally a pair with just nine seconds remaining.
“She told me ‘I got this coach’,” Clark said of Kirchhoff during a timeout in the final minute. “From there we were trying to get her the ball to shoot the free throws.”
That kept Coffeyville at bay and sent Barton to its first Region VI title since 2008. That year Barton took fourth at the NJCAA Tournament in Salina.
This year’s edition of the NJCAA Championships Lubbock, Texas on the campus of Texas Tech.
The opening round will get underway March 22 and run through March 27.
Barton led most of the way in the title game win over Coffeyville. The only time Barton trailed was early in the contest.
Barton trailed by as many as six in the first quarter before ending the opening 10 minutes on an 8-2 run for a 19-17 lead.
The second quarter was much lower scoring. Coffeyville scored six points in the first 1:30 to once again snag a decent lead, this time at 23-19.
But the Red Ravens would score just two more the rest of the period - two free throws with 38 seconds left. Neither team scored for a 5-minute stretch as Barton went to half up 26-25.
Barton scored the first give points of the third half and were on their way. Acoricanna Lard opened with a 3-pointer and Morgan Meyers added a layup just 1:10 into the half and Barton led 31-25.
The lead hit seven late in the period as Lili Shubert hit a layup for a 42-35 in the final minute.
The Red Ravens closed to within four open the final period but back-to-back hoops by Lard and Jenny Nkem Womsi pushed it back to 46-38. Coffeyville got no closer than five until that final minute.
Nkem Womsi scored 17 and grabbed 13 rebounds to pace the Cougars.
“That is an average game for her,” Coach Clark said. “She averages 15 and 13. We sometimes forget how much she does for us.”
Meyers hit a trio of 3-pointers on her way to 13. Lard scored 11 and led Barton with three assists. Kirchhoff finished with 10, highlighted by that 8-for-8 effort at the free throw line in the final minute.
Barton pulled away in the third period of the semifinal contest against Butler Friday night, winning 59-43.
The Cougars led 25-22 at intermission before the big third period. It was a 14-0 run that put the Cougars in complete control.
Butler scored the first two of the half to make it a 25-24 game. A pair of Nkem Womsi buckets made it a 29-24 game. Quezia Bertoni knocked down a trey with 7:08 to play to make it 32-24.
Nkem Womsi and Meyers each made buckets and Bertoni hit another trey, those were her only buckets of the game, to give Barton a 39-24 lead with 5:57 left.
Butler got no closer than 9 the rest of the way.
Meyers hit five 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 17 points. Makaela Hall added 13 and Nkem Womsi finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Region VI Championship
Barton 60, Coffeyville 56
Coffeyville 17 8 10 21 - 56
Barton 19 7 16 18 - 60
Coffeyville 56 (21-13)
Blackman 1-6 0-0 2, Ortiz 3-7 0-0 6, Roach 6-19 1-2 17, Conner 2-7 2-3 6, Banks 1-3 0-1 2, Graham 0-3 0-0 0, Davis 2-3 0-0 4, Layman 4-6 2-2 12, Snyder 3-8 0-0 6. Totals – 22-63 5-8 56.
Barton 60 (28-5)
Lard 5-15 0-0 11, Kirchhoff 1-5 8-9 10, Meyers 5-8 0-3 13, Nkem Womsi 5-16 7-12 17, Hall 0-2 0-0 0, Bertoni 1-1 0-0 3, Heskamp 1-4 1-1 3, Shubert 1-1 0-0 2, John 0-1 0-0 0, Emmanuel 0-2 1-2 1. Totals – 19-55 17-27 60.
3-pointers – Coffeyville 7-22 (Roach 4-9, Layman 2-4, Davis 1-2, Blackmon 0-1, Ortiz 0-2, Snyder 0-2, Graham 0-2). Barton 5-15 (Meyers 3-6, Bertoni 1-1, Lard 1-2, John 0-1, Heskamp 0-1, Kirchhoff 0-4).
Rebounds - Coffeyville 38 (Conner 11), Barton 35 (Nkem Womsi 13); Assists - Coffeyville 14 (Blackmon 7), Barton 8 (Lard 3). Steals - Coffeyville 2 (Blackmon, Conner), Barton 3 (Nkem Womsi, Bertoni, Emmanuel). Blocks - Coffeyville 3 (3 with 1), Barton 0. Turnovers - Coffeyville 9, Barton 7; Fouled out - Blackmon, Coffeyville. Technicals - None.
Semifinals
Barton 59, Butler 43
Butler 11 11 8 13 - 43
Barton 13 12 19 15 - 59
Butler 43 (23-7)
Knight 1-4 0-2 3, Harding 4-8 0-0 11, Wallace 2-11 0-0 4, James 2-7 2-4 6, Colvin 2-6 0-0 4, Franklin 1-5 0-0 3, Harding 1-5 0-0 3, Nero 2-5 0-0 4, Harrod 1-4 3-5 5. Totals – 16-56 5-11 43.
Barton 59 (25-7)
Lard 3-13 0-0 8, Kirchhoff 1-5 0-0 3, Meyers 6-13 0-0 17, Nkem Womsi 5-9 0-2 10, Hall 5-6 3-4 13, Shubert 0-1 0-0 0, Bertoni 2-3 0-0 6, Emmanuel 0-0 0-0 0, Heskamp 0-1 0-0 0. Totals – 22-51 5-10 59.
3-pointers -- Butler 6-26 (Harding 3-6, Knight 1-3, Harding 1-5, Franklin 1-5, Harrod 0-1, James 0-2, Covlin 0-2). Barton 10-28 (Meyers 5-12, Bertoni 2-2, Lard 2-8, Kirchhoff 1-5, Shubert 0-1).
Rebounds - Butler 32 (Harding 10), Barton 30 (Nkem Womsi 11); Assists - Butler 13 (Wallace 4, Harrod 4), Barton 18 (Kirchhoff 5, Lard 4). Steals - Butler 10 (Harrod 3), Barton 5 (5 wtth 1). Blocks - Butler 3 (Harrod 2), Barton 1 (Lard). Turnovers - Butler 16, Barton 19; Fouled out - James, Butler; Nkem Womsi, Barton. Technicals - None.
Region VI Playoffs
First Round
Saturday, March 4
8 Indy 68, 9 Cowley 54
5 Coffeyville 80, 12 Pratt 69
11 Garden 60, 6 Seward 59 (OT)
7 Cloud 84, 2 Cloud 68
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 7
At Higher Seed
1 Dodge 67, 8 Indy 63
5 Coffeyville 73, 4 Hutch 68
3 Butler 74, 11 Garden 47
2 Barton 69, 7 Cloud 36
Semifinals
Friday, March 10
5 Coffeyville 75, 1 Dodge 65
2 Barton 59, 3 Butler 43
Finals
Saturday, March 11
2 Barton 60, 5 Coffeyville 56
Barton (28-5) advances to NJCAA Championships in Lubbock, Texas March 22-27.
