Barton Community College and Frank Phillips had to work overtime on Sunday afternoon to put a lid on the Highland Hotel-Booster Club Basketball Classic.
Make that double OT.
Barton, the team that couldn’t close the deal in overtime last season, losing six of seven, threw the proverbial monkey off its back in a big way, staying unbeaten at 9-0 on the 2011-12 campaign after toppling Frank Phillips 91-83.
The Cougars unleashed a 17-9 run in the second overtime to put themselves over the hump at Kirkman Activity Center. The game was tied at 68 at the end of regulation and 74-all after the first overtime.
“I think the first thing is, it’s the first time we’ve faced adversity,” said seventh-year Barton head coach Craig Fletchall, whose team is back in action tonight at home against the McPherson junior varsity, starting at 7. “We lost six overtime games a year ago, when we had mostly freshmen.
“We felt we controlled our destiny after regulation.”
If there had been a classic tournament most valuable player named, Barton guard Algie Key would have secured the mantle in a landslide. A 6-foot-3 freshman, Key lit up Frank Phillips for 31 points on 10-for-13 shooting and 11-for-12 on free-throw shooting, capping an 82-point scoring barrage over the weekend for the Decatur, Ga., product.
Several others stepped to the forefront against Frank Phillips:
Carl Wallace, a 6-4 sophomore swingman from Philadelphia, Pa., had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 12 of those points after halftime.
Jonathan Pittman, a 6-6 sophomore forward from New Orleans and a first-year player for Fletchall, had his most productive game with 14 points, including 6-for-8 on field goals, and four rebounds.
Sophomore power forward Dwayne Brunson had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore forward Darius Hill had 10 points and five boards.
And, as it turned out, two straight OT games was a little much for Frank Phillips (2-4), which beat Indy 87-82 in overtime on Saturday after losing on a buzzer-beater on Friday against Labette.
Oddly, while Key was the Cougars’ constant, two of his three misses from the floor came on last-second shots — one at the end of regulation and another at the end of the first overtime.
“I just try to get to the hole and get my shot up and hopefully, it falls,” said Key, who also had nine rebounds and a team-high five assists.
After Barton’s shootaround earlier Sunday, Key stuck around and shot some extra free throws. After all, he made only 7 of 13 foul shots on Saturday night during an 86-78 win over Labette, yet still scored a team-high 23 points.
“I know I missed a lot of free throws,” Key said. “I came in here earlier, so I could work on my form, and it turned out pretty good.”
The Cougars closed out Frank Phillips by making 11 of 12 free throws in the second overtime to finish 22 for 34 on the night.
BCC led 80-76 with 4:04 remaining in the second OT after Pittman converted two free throws and Brunson popped in a jumper from the left baseline.
After Frank Phillips knotted the score at 80, Key hit a pair of free throws, Hill added a bucket and Brunson canned two free throws to extend the margin to 86-80 with 1:33 left.
Kris Harris of Frank Phillips followed by missing a step-back 3-pointer at the 1:22 mark, and the Cougars salted away the victory.
Sharpshooter Ronald Scott finished with a team-high 20 points for Frank Phillips. The smooth southpaw hit 6 of 8 field goals and 2 of 4 free throws.
One area Barton will be seeking improvement is from the perimeter. The Cougars shot a collective 3-for-33 (11 percent) on 3-pointers during the classic, including missing eight of nine on Sunday.
“We faced a lot of zone this weekend,” Fletchall said, “and that’s going to be good for us because about half of the teams in our league are playing zone.
“I think, maybe, despite not having the perimeter shooters we’d like, a guy like Carl Wallace is pretty invaluable.
“He started off the overtime by getting to the basket and Frank Phillips was playing from behind on the road. That was us a year ago.”

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Highland Hotel-Booster Club
Basketball Classic

At Great Bend

Kirkman Activity Center

Sunday

MEN

Barton Community College 91,
Frank Phillips 83, 2OT
FRANK PHILLIPS (2-4)
     James Boonstoppel 0-8 0-0 0, Ronald Scott 6-8 5-6 20, Akeem Anderson 7-13 2-2 17, Ben Murphy 3-5 0-3 6, Alex Zivkovic 1-4 2-4 4, Montero Rice 2-11 7-8 12, Melvin Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Earl Hill 1-3 0-0 2, Greg Nelson 3-7 2-2 8, Kris Harris 4-12 4-4 14, Patrick Elledge 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Evans 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-75 22-29 83.
BARTON (9-0)
     Jonathan Pittman 6-8 2-4 14, Jalen Boyd 0-5 0-0 0, Algie Key 10-13 11-12 31, Dwayne Brunson 4-12 5-10 13, Carl Wallace 8-13 2-5 19, Kurt Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Andell Cumberbatch 2-14 0-1 4, Julian Rose 0-4 0-0 0, DaVonte Grant 0-2 0-0 0, Darius Hill 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 34-79 22-34 91.
     Halftime — Barton 38, Frank Phillips 37. End of regulation —Barton 68, Frank Phillips 68. End of first OT — Barton 74, Frank Phillips 74. Three-point goals — Frank Philllips 7-26 (Scott 3-3, Harris 2-6, Johnson 1-3, Rice 1-4, Boonstoppel 0-7, Nelson 0-2, Murphy 0-1); Barton 1-9 (Wallace 1-1, Cumberbatch 0-3, Boyd 0-2 Walker 0-1, Grant 0-1, Rose 0-1). Rebounds — Barton 52 (Wallace 12, Key 9, Brunson 7); Frank Phillips 50 (Johnson 10, Zivkovic 6). Assists — Barton 14 (Key 5, Wallace 3); Frank Phillips 13 (Rice 7). Steals — Frank Phillips 9 (Harris 3, Johnson 2); Barton 8 (Cumberbatch 2). Turnovers — Frank Phillips 15 (Scott 4); Barton 12 (Wallace 4). Blocked shots — Barton 7 (Brunson 3, Pittman 2); Frank Phillips 5.

Barton Community College Highland Hotel-Booser Club
Basketball Classic

At Great Bend

Kirkman Activity Center
Great Bend

Friday’s results
Women — Pratt 63, Labette 49
Men — Labette 77, Frank Phillips 75
Women — Barton 60, Coffeyville 56
Men — Barton 75, Independence 66
Saturday
Women — Coffeyville 68, Pratt 59
Men — Independence 87, Frank Phillips 82
Women — Labette 86, Barton 78
Men — Barton 56, Labette 53
Sunday
Men — Barton 91, Frank Phillips, 2OT