BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
DODGE CITY – Coming off back-to-back losses, Coach Alan Clark was looking to mix things up a bit for his Barton women’s basketball team.
Those consecutive losses came on the heels of a 30-point win for the Cougars over No. 10 ranked Butler.
So Coach Clark put five new starters on the floor Wednesday at Dodge City.
Whether or not the strategy worked is up for debate. The Cougars won the game but it was far from a thing of beauty.
Barton escaped Dodge with a 45-42 Jayhawk West win. The win put the Cougars(12-5, 4-3 Jayhawk) in fourth place, two games ahead of fifth-place Dodge City (9-9, 4-5) and Garden City (9-9, 4-5).
The 45 points were a season low for the Cougars. But those 45 points were enough.
“We battled,” Coach Clark said. “We were diving on the floor and fighting for everything. It was a struggle to score but we made it hard for them to score as well. We will take the win and go home.”
The five starters had trouble scoring. That, however, would be a theme for all the players throughout.
Clark began subbing his starters in midway through the first quarter, trailing 5-3. That first period ended with Barton down 7-6.
Dodge started the second period on a 9-0 run that lasted nearly half the quarter and gave the Conquistadors a 16-6 lead.
Madison Dirks finally got Barton on the board in the period with a 3-pointer to make it 16-9.
An ugly first half finally came to an end with Dodge City on top, 22-15. No Barton player scored more than three points in the opening period.
A more familiar starting five began the second half as four of the regular starters were on the floor along with Conner Keith.
Keith and Jaylin Stapleton hit 3s early in the third to cut the lead to 22-21 as Dodge did not score the first 4:30 of the quarter.
Barton caught the Conquistadors at 24-all with four minutes left on another Stapleton trey.
The Cougars took their first lead since 6-5 when Taylor Regan scored on the left block with 30 seconds to play in third for a 32-30 lead.
The two clubs traded baskets and the lead much of the final period.
Mallory Miller scored her first points of the night with on a 3-pointer with 2:05 left to put Barton up 44-42. With 22 seconds left, Stapleton hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 45-42 game.
A 3-pointer by Allie Baker just missed prior to the buzzer to let Barton escape with the win.
Stapleton led Barton with 11 points while Regan added nine points and eight rebounds.
Barton plays Colby (8-9, 3-6) at home at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
BARTON 45, DODGE 42
Barton 6 9 17 13 – 45
Dodge 7 15 8 12 – 42
BARTON (12-5, 5-3)-- Stapleton 2-7 5-8 11, Regan 2-3 5-6 9, Nichols 3-8 0-0 7, Keith 2-4 0-0 6, Ndao 2-3 0-0 4, Dirks 1-4 0-0 3, Miller 1-5 0-0 3, Chukwudi 1-4 0-0 2, Turney 0-4 0-0 0, Hunt 0-2 0-0 0, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, White 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 14-47 10-14 45.
DODGE (9-9, 4-5)--Fitts 8-12 1-3 19, Ewing 3-8 0-0 6, Pool 2-5 0-0 5, Burris 2-3 0-0 5, Adams 1-9 0-0 3, Nelson 1-4 0-0 2, Baker 0-8 0-0 0, Dale 0-1 0-0 0, Rowley 0-5 0-0 0, Maple 0-1 0-0 0, Hill 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 18-62 1-3 42.
3-pointers – Barton 7-20 (Keith 2-4, Stapleton 2-4, Nichols 1-2, Dirks 1-3, Miller 1-4, Turney 0-1, White 0-1, Regan 0-1), DC 5-33 (Fitts 2-5, Burris 1-2, Pool 1-3, Adams 1-4, Nelson 0-2, Rowley 0-3, Hill 0-3, Ewing 0-4, Baker 0-7). Rebounds – Barton 41 (Regan 8), DC 38 (Fitts 9). Assists – Barton 10 (Stapleton 4), DC 7 (Pool 3). Steals – Barton 6 (Nichols, Stapleton 2), DC 5 (Adams 2). Blocks – Barton 2 (Miller, Chukwudi), DC 3 (3 with 1). Turnovers – Barton 16, DC 14.
JAYHAWK WEST WOMEN
Hutchinson 9-0 18-0
Seward County 7-1 15-2
Pratt 6-3 13-4
Barton 5-3 12-5
Dodge City 4-5 9-9
Garden City 4-5 9-9
Colby 3-6 8-9
NW Tech 0-9 0-17
JAYHAWK EAST WOMEN
Butler 8-2 17-2
Cowley 7-3 15-4
Cloud County 6-4 13-6
Neosho County 3-6 6-13
Independence 3-6 8-8
Coffeyville 2-8 3-16
Allen County 1-7 3-15
MONDAY
Butler 72, Cloud 56
Cowley 64, Coffeyville 57
Dodge City 51, Colby 47
Hutchinson 101, NW Tech 51
Independence 77, Neosho 54
Pratt 67, Barton 61
Seward 66, Garden City 60
WEDNESDAY
Barton 45, Dodge City 42
Butler 79, Allen 43
Cloud 60, Coffeyville 59
Colby 68, NW Tech 55
Cowley 99, Neosho 82
Hutchinson 87, Garden City 56
Seward 71, Pratt 68
SATURDAY
Allen at Coffeyville
Colby at Barton
Cowley at Cloud
Dodge City at Seward
Garden City at NW Tech
Independence at Butler
Pratt at Hutchinson
