BY KEVIN PRICE
kprice@gbtribune.com
A second-half explosion of points, aided by shooting 10 of 14 from three-point range, gave the Barton Community College women’s basketball team an 88-75 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division win over Colby on Wednesday night at Kirkman Athletic Center.
The game started well for the Cougars (12-9, 4-3), when Raven Adams grabbed the ball off the tip off and found Alisha Fanshier making a drive to the basket.
The layup didn’t fall, but Fanshier made both free throws to give the Cougars the early lead just four seconds into the game.
However Colby responded with an 8-1 run, with the help of Hannah Thornton, who scored six of the Lady Trojans’ first eight points in the game and finished with 27 to lead her team.
“Thornton’s a really active kid,” Barton head coach Keith Ferguson said. “She does a lot of ball fakes. She’s really good side-to-side, and she makes you move to guard her. We didn’t do a very good job defensively on the trap. We let her split the double team all the time which was disappointing. We didn’t trap better, but it’s something that we’ve got to prepare for next time we go up there. You can’t expect to score 59 points in a half very often, or ever.”
Christina Cadddy, who finished the first half with six points, put in a layup and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to trim the lead to 11-10.
Then Dionne Harris set to work.
After Colby committed one of its 10 first-half turnovers, Barton missed a shot Harris grabbed an offensive board and got the put back and the foul.
Harris, who saw more minutes in the first half because Netanya Jackson had to sit out the half due to disciplinary reasons, missed the free throw, but that didn’t stop her from finishing the first half with a team-high 10 points.
With Harris’ two points, the Cougars took back the lead they had held for only a handful of seconds in the opening minute of the game.
Colby remained neck-and-neck with the Cougars, exchanging the lead seven times in the first half, and took the lead in the final seconds of the first half, scoring four unanswered points to raise a 31-29.
The Cougars caught fire in the second half, and it was Fanshier playing with matches.
“The first 10 minutes of the second half, I thought we were as good as we’ve ever been,” Ferguson said. “We were guarding. We were moving the ball well on offense. We were the posts the ball and our posts were more active. It’s a lot easier to get open looks when the posts are moving and being active.
“Netanya (Jackson) had to sit the first half because of disciplinary reasons and came in because Christina (Caddy) got into foul trouble and did very well. Dionne (Harris) did really well tonight and obviously Alisha (Fanshier) exploded for 27 and almost set the record for 3s.”
Fanshier began the second period by drilling a 3-pointer, her first of seven in the half, coming up one trey short of tying the Barton record for most 3-pointers in a game (8) set by Kristine Silaraja and Ipek Turkylimaz in 2008.
“Alisha (Fanshier), you know, she hit that first one and you could tell she was more comfortable,” Ferguson said. “It helped that she was going to the rim and she had been doing some things. She had been aggressive, and she also moved really well without the ball.
“She got herself some open space, and our kids did a nice job of getting her into a position to be successful. She helped out by knocking down the shots.”
Fanshier finished with a team-leading 27 points, including 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
The Cougars exploded for a 21-4 run against Colby in the first seven minutes of the second half to claim the lead, which Barton did not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
Harris continued her work in the paint, finishing with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Caddy added another 15 points and six assists for the Cougars, who scored 59 in the second half mainly from shooting 10 of 14 from beyond the arc.
JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community
College Conference
Western Division
At Great Bend
Kirkman Athletic Center
WOMEN
Wednesday
Barton Community College 88,
Colby 75
COLBY (8-14, 3-5)
Elina Gutmane 0-2 0-0 0, Kelli Crittenden 3-9 2-2 10, Morgan Richwartz 2-8 0-0 5, Hannah Thornton 8-8 11-17 27, Tayler Puttergill 4-9 0-0 10, Brooke Bursiek 4-4 1-2 11, Brittany Schamberger 0-3 0-0 0, Liga Vente 3-7 0-3 2, Christina Anderson 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 26-54 14-24 75.
BARTON (12-9, 4-3)
Shea Shoemaker 4-7 0-0 8, Christina Caddy 6-15 1-5 15, Alisha Fanshier 7-12 6-7 27, Raven Adams 3-7 1-2 8, Dionne Harris 8-14 4-5 20, Devan Boeger 0-1 0-0 0, Cerissa McMillan 0-3 0-0 0, Jara Shoemaker 1-6 0-1 3, Netanya Jackson 2-5 3-4 7. Totals 31-70 15-24 88.
Halftime — Colby 31, Barton 29. Three-point goals — Barton 11-24 (Fanshier 7-9, Caddy 2-3, J. Shoemaker 1-4, Adams 1-3, McMillan 0-3, Colby 9-16 (Crittenden 2-6, Bursiek 2-2, Puttergill 2-3, Anderson 1-2, Kinderknecht 1-1, Richwartz 1-1). Rebounds — Barton 42 (Harris 12, Jackson 5, Caddy 5), Colby 37 (Thornton 9, Puttergill 8). Assists — Barton 27 (Caddy 6, Fanshier 6, Adams 5), Colby 18 (Crittenden 10). Turnovers — Colby 24, Barton 18. Blocked shots — 8 (S. Shoemaker 4), Colby 4 (Vente 3).
