Don’t be surprised if you see a re-energized basketball team tonight when the No. 13-rated Barton Cougars host Dodge City in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division action. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 after the women’s game inside Kirkman Activity Center.
Something tells us that the Cougars will be prone to have a breakout game, based on the way they have responded to adversity.
The Cougars (20-3, 6-3) dropped out of the top 10 from No. 9 in the latest NJCAA rankings. Jayhawk East powerhouse Coffeyville fell from No. 2 to No. 7 in the latest poll, which was released Tuesday.
Barton couldn’t match Seward’s energy level during a 77-59 setback last Saturday night in Liberal. This came after carving a big deficit down to seven points by virtue of a 10-0 run midway through the second half, although the Saints, debuting in the national poll in a tie for the 15th spot with McLennan (Waco, Texas), pulled away.
“We didn’t play with enough energy,” said Barton head coach Craig Fletchall, “and we didn’t value the basketball.
“Our backcourt got outplayed. Personally, I thought we became complacent. We really shot ourselves in the foot.”
To be sure, Barton’s 17 turnovers compared to 10 for Seward played a key role in the Cougars having their six-game winning streak snapped inasmuch as the Saints limiting Algie Key to a season-low six points.
“Sometimes those things are going to happen,” Fletchall said of Key, who was coming off a career-high 30 points in an 86-82 road win at Cloud County in Concordia one week ago, a game where he clipped the Thunderbirds wings with 12-for-17 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-3 on 3s.
Don’t be surprised if Key, a 6-3 freshman guard, comes back strong tonight after missing 8 of 11 shots against Seward in his lowest output of the season. After all, Key entered the Seward game averaging a team-best 19.5 points and also leads the team in assists (125) and steals (44), while shooting 52.6 percent from the field (153 for 291).
Barton made 15 of 21 free throws against Seward, although the Cougars are still shooting only 62.6 percent on the season, something they still need to keep building on for the stretch run of the season.
BCC guard Kurt Walker, who had a team-best five assists but zero points against the Saints, is a deadly foul shooter, converting 19 of 21 for 90.5 percent. He also has made 12 3s, second on the team to sophomore guard DaVonte Grant’s 14.
Walker is shooting a team-high 40.7 percent (11 for 27), although the Cougars, entering the game with the Saints shooting only 28.7 percent from beyond the arc, made only 2 of 12 Saturday night.
In the previous meeting on Jan. 7 at United Wireless Arena in Dodge City, the Conquistadors (15-8, 3-6) knocked off Barton 91-86, dropping the Cougars into dead last in the West with an 0-2 start.
“We’ve got the revenge factor in the back of our minds,” Fletchall said.
Barton caught fire after its tough start, reeling off six straight victories before its loss to the Saints, who completed their sweep of the Cougars after beating them 73-67 in the Jayhawk West opener on Jan. 4 in Great Bend.
While sophomore swingman Carl Wallace has been consistent, averaging nearly 12 points and seven rebounds, the steadying force has been none other than sophomore power forward Dwayne Brunson.
Ejected and consequently suspended the next two games after a mixup with Dodge City’s James Milton earlier in the season, the 6-7 Brunson has been the complementary inside player for the penetrating Key.
In five games since his return, Brunson, who scored a team-high 20 points, making 8 of 9 free throws in the loss to Seward, is averaging 15 points.