Netanya Jackson nearly bailed out the Barton Community College women’s basketball team on Wednesday night.
But Garden City’s Tamara Jones scored 29 points to lead the Broncbusters to a 62-51 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division win at Kirkman Activity Center.
Jones finished with 14 rebounds for a double-double.
“It’s just disappointing,” Barton head coach Darin Spence said. “Not disappointing that we didn’t win. I’m a big believer that wining or losing is just a byproduct of the passion to play the game. We need to bring enthusiasm and teamwork, and we’re a big pace team. We try to build on our base, and when we don’t have it, we’re just pretty average.
“We played that first half on our heels. We didn’t have that passion that we needed to have to win a conference game. That’s sort of the short and long of it right there.”
Garden City improves to 10-7 overall, 2-1 in the KJCCC West, while Barton drops to 11-6, 1-2.
With Dionne Harris and Shea Shoemaker scoreless, Jackson came off the bench to score 10 points in the first half and got Barton started in the second period with the first four points of an 11-2 run that closed the gap to 39-33 with 14 minutes, eight seconds remaining.
Jackson finished with a team-leading 17 points and six rebounds.
The 6-foot-4 center created a mismatch in Barton’s favor against Garden City post player Carly Schmale, who is the Broncbuster’s tallest player at 6-1.
“Since she’s got back this second semester, she’s been a lot better,” Spence said of Jackson. “She’s got some things figured out mentally, and she got herself into some better shape, so we can use her. That gives us another addition, another piece of the puzzle.”
Harris added five points in the run, her only five points in the game. Raven Anderson, who finished with six points including 6 of 6 from the free-throw line, contributed a pair of free throws in the run.
“We don’t win if those two are going to play like that,” Spence said of Harris and Shoemaker. “I just got done talking to them. They’re our leaders. Not just in scoring, but our leaders in every way. Our enthusiasm and energy, and it’s just wasn’t there tonight. If they don’t do it, who does it fall on to? That’s their role, and they have to step up and fill their role. There is no such thing as bad nights in this job. Those two have to cover for us.”
A 10-0 run with 5:32 remaining in the second half propelled Barton to its first lead since opening the game with two points.
However, Jones began a 15-2 run to close out the game, making the first of two free throws.
The Broncbusters jumped ahead early with a 9-0 run, headlined by a Jasmine Moore 3-pointer. Moore led Garden City, which shot 7 of 10 from beyond the arc for 70 percent shooting in the first half, with three treys.
Garden City shot 63.6 percent from the field in the first half, compared to Barton’s 33.3 percent.
Erin Copeland went 2-for-5 from the three-point line on her way to 10 points in the game.
“I love Erin,” Spence said. “Her feistiness. Since she’s gotten back from break, her leadership has gotten better. She does still get frustrated, and she still needs help though. We are another point guard away from much better. She has a lot to carry on her shoulders, especially when Dionne and Shea play like tonight.”

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community
College Conference
Western Division

At Great Bend
Kirkman Activity Center

WOMEN

Wednesday

Garden City 62, Barton 51
GARDEN CITY (10-7, 2-1)
     Mikayla Skidmore 1-5 0-2 2, Jasmine Christmas 2-3 0-0 4, Tamara Jones 9-13 10-12 29, Ashley Walker 3-8 0-2 8, Carly Schmale 1-2 0-0 2, Jasmine Moore 3-7 0-0 9, Breanna Gottschalk 1-4 0-0 3, Nicole Young 2-2 1-1 5. Totals 22-44 11-17 62.
BARTON (11-6, 1-2)
     Shea Shoemaker 0-6 0-1 0, Raven Anderson 0-3 6-6 6, Blair Bloomfield 2-9 1-2 5, Dionne Harris 1-4 3-3 5, Erin Copeland 4-11 0-2 10, Devan Boeger 2-4 0-0 6, Taschell Phillips 1-4 0-0 2, Netanya Jackson 7-7 3-5 17. Totals 17-48 13-19 51.
     Halftime — Garden City 35, Barton 22. Three-point goals — Garden City 7-14 (Moore 3-5, Walker 2-3, Jones 1-2, Gottschalk 1-3, Skidmore 0-1); Barton 4-14 (Boeger 2-3, Copeland 2-5, Bloomfield 0-3, Shoemaker 0-3). Rebounds — Garden City 35 (Jones 14); Barton 27 (Jackson 6). Assists — Garden City 16 (Skidmore 7); Barton 10 (Copeland 5). Totals fouls — Garden City 19, Barton 18. A — 187.