Often times the first weekend basketball classic is a couple of easy wins for the host team. But there was little doubt it was not going to be a walkover this past weekend at the Best Western/Booster Club Classic at the Barton Gym.
The Barton women’s basketball team brought to town the No. 25 in the NJCAA as well as a team just outside the Top 25.
So when the Cougars finished up the weekend 1-1 there had to be a bit of satisfaction with result.
But the Cougars had visions of 2-0 after winning Friday night over No. 25 Iowa Western, 78-77. The Cougars were not able to finish off the sweep as Northern Oklahoma-Enid won Saturday, 63-55.
“There is no doubt after winning Friday we wanted to be 2-0,” Coach Alan Clark said. “We knew it would be two tough games. Both teams were in the top 30 in the rankings and both are traditionally strong programs.”
Barton is now 2-1 on the season. Enid is 3-0 and Iowa Western 3-1.
In the win over Iowa Western, it was a key stretch to start the fourth quarter that propelled Barton to the win.
Baylee Robinson started a 10-2 run with a layup on the inside. Jalisa Jones gave Barton the lead for the first time in five minutes when she converted a 3-play for a 65-64 advantage with 7:22 to play. The Cougars would not trail again.
Katrina Roenfeldt knocked down a 3-pointer for a 68-64 lead and Robinson put a bookend on the run with another layup from Megan Jirak and it was 70-64 with 6:00 to play.
The Reivers worked their way back to 78-77 with a 3-pointer by Zarin Goodrich with 37 seconds to play. Iowa Western had a couple of chances to tie or take the lead but couldn’t convert.
Robinson, a 6-1 transfer from Trinidad State (Colo.), was big in the win. She poured in 25 points and hauled in 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. Roenfeldt followed with 21 and grabbed nine rebounds and five steals.
“That is pretty much what we will expect from her all year,” Clark said of Roenfeldt.
Jones added 11 points as did Great Bend sophomore Megan Unruh. Unruh and Alexus Bryson both finished with a team-high four assists.
“Jalissa (Jones) started at point guard and handled things very well,”
In the Saturday contest, Enid used a 23-12 second quarter to take a 35-26 lead to half. The Cougars would spend the balance of the game trying to catch then Jets.
The Cougars used a good shooting third quarter to get back in the game. The Cougars hit 3-of-5 treys and 8-of-13 overall in the quarter in scoring 23 points. That cut the lead to 52-49 to start the final 10 minutes of play.
Jirak made it a 1-point game at 52-51 to start the final period. But Enid responded with a 3-pointer by Sarah Garvie to start a 7-0 run. The problem for Barton is that 7-0 run was over seven minutes. Barton didn’t score again until a Stormeigh Mattison layup with 2:39 left.
Roenfeldt finished with 12 points to pace Barton. Unruh and Jirak added 10 each. Robinson led Barton with eight rebounds to go with nine points playing just 17 minutes with foul trouble.
“Baylee was huge Friday,” Coach Clark said. “She was very efficient Saturday in the minutes she played.
“We need to foul less. Baylee got in foul trouble but as a team we had some issues with that. We need to guard without fouling. It is the difference between playing hard and playing smart.”
One player who stood out on defense was Unruh. She earned the task of guarding Garvie during the night fresh Garvie’s 31-point effort on Friday. Unruh held her to just one shot the first half.
“Not only did she not score much, she didn’t get many touches that first half,” Coach Clark said. “She got loose some in the second half when we made some mistakes and she made us pay. But we held her in check for the most part.”
Garvie finished with 14 points on just eight shots.
The Cougars wrap up the non-conference season Wednesday when the Sterling JV comes to the Barton Gym. The Cougars are off to Colby Saturday to start Jayhawk Conference play.
Barton 79, Iowa Western 77
Iowa Western 22 14 26 15 77
Barton 19 18 23 19 79
Iowa Western (77)
Ania 4-11 0-0 9, Mountain 0-2 6-6 6, Ucar 3-8 1-1 7, Johns 4-8 2-6 10, Took 2-6 2-5 7, Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Goodrich 1-4 3-4 6, Floyd 5-6 4-7 14, Nyauchi 2-7 1-2 5, Bull 0-2 0-0 0, Ramey 2-3 0-0 5, Luper 2-2 0-0 5. Total – 26-62 19-31 77.
Barton (79)
Roenfeldt 6-12 5-11 21, Jones 4-14 3-5 11, Jirak 3-7 0-0 7, Unruh 4-8 2-3 11, Robinson 11-15 3-6 25, Bryson 0-3 3-3 3, Willis 1-3 0-0 3, Welsch 0-0 0-0 0, Mattison 0-0 0-0 0, Walford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals – 29-62 14-22 79.
3-pointers – Iowa Western 6-18 (Ramey 2-3, Tooks 1-1, Luper 1-1, Goodrich 1-3, Ania 1-7, Mountain 0-1, Ucar 0-1, Johns 0-1). Barton 7-20 (Roenfeldt 5-11, Jirak 1-3, Unruh 1-4, Jones 0-1, Willis 0-1).
Rebounds – Iowa Western 45 (Johns 7, Took 7). Barton 34 (Robinson 10). Assists – Iowa Western 10 (Tooks 2). Barton 15 (Unruh 4, Bryson 4). Steals – Iowa Western 7 (Tooks 2). Barton 8 (Roenfeldt 5).
Turnovers – Iowa Western 17, Barton 15. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.

Northern Oklahoma Enid 63, Barton 55
Enid 12 23 17 11 63
Barton 14 12 23 6 55
Enid (63)
Garvie 5-8 1-1 14, Tramble 3-6 1-2 7, Riley 2-3 0-0 4, Greenhowa 3-6 3-4 9, Ndiaye 1-10 4-8 6, Frymire 3-8 3-6 10, Young 1-6 5-6 7, Boyer 0-3 2-2 2, Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Sylvester 1-2 0-0 2. Totals – 20-54 19-29 63.
Barton (55)
Roenfeldt 4-12 1-2 12, Jones 2-5 3-5 7, Jirak 3-11 3-4 10, Unruh 3-10 3-3 10, Robinson 4-9 1-2 9, Bryson 0-4 3-4 3, Mattison 1-1 0-0 2, Willis 0-3 0-2 0, Holler 0-1 0-0 0, Chagas 0-1 0-0 0, Welsch 0-0 0-0 0, Walford 1-1 0-0 2. Totals – 18-58 14-22 55.
3-pointers – Enid 4-9 (Garvie 3-6, Fyrmire 1-3, Greenhowa 0-1); Barton 5-20 (Roenfeldt 3-7, Jirak 1-5, Unruh 1-5, Jones 0-1, Holler 0-1, Willis 0-1).
Rebounds – Enid 38 (Ndiaye 5); Barton 43 (Robinson 8). Assists – Enid 4 (Tramble 2), Barton 8 (Unruh 3). Steals – Enid 3 (3 with 1); Barton 6 (Mattison 3).
Turnovers – Enid 12, Barton 12. Fouled Out – Robinson, Barton. Technicals – None.