COLBY — An early scoring explosion by sophomore guard Blair Bloomfield put the Barton Community College Lady Cougars in the driver’s seat on Sunday afternoon.
A few missed shots and a couple turnovers gave Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division foe Colby all it needed to claw its way back as it won 59-53.
“I thought we had a great first 10 minutes,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said. “Then we had a really poor 30 minutes, especially on offense.
“We were up by 11 points in the second half, but we had too many break downs, too many missed opportunities.”
The Lady Trojans got their first conference win of the season, improving to 7-22 overall, 1-14 in the West. Barton fell to 13-15, 3-12.
Down the stretch, the Lady Cougars kept it close.
Bloomfield, who finished with a career-high 24 points, sank a 3-pointer to tie the game at 46 with 3:13 remaining. She went 5-for-10 from 3-point range.
“She had a big game,” Kruger said. “She was a big key for why we built an early lead. We just needed someone else to step up.”
A 7-0 run for the Lady Trojans gave them a 53-46 advantage with 1:10 remaining. They held on down the stretch.
The Lady Cougars travel to Concordia to challenge Cloud County on Wednesday night. They start at 5:30, with the men following at 7:30 — weather permitting.

                                                       — Kevin Price

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference
Western Division

WOMEN

Sunday

At Colby

Colby Community College 59, Barton 53
BARTON (13-15, 3-12)
    Blair Bloomfield 8-15 3-4 24, Ashton Bruner 4-9 5-10 13, Kailai Brantner 2-5 3-4 7, Taschell Phillips 1-10 4-4 6, Erin Copeland 1-8 0-0 2, Taylor Mayes 0-0 1-2 1, Ta’Kerra Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Jennifer Allende 0-0 0-0 0, Jackie Bueno 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-50 16-24 53.
COLBY (7-22, 1-14)
    Linda Pagrode 5-8 6-8 18, Kasey Hoyt 4-7 0-2 11, Agnese Aramina 4-9 1-2 10, Shantydra Arnold 2-6 5-6 9, Kytiana Seals 1-7 3-4 5, Liene Liepina 2-7 1-2 5, Haley Dinkel 0-1 1-2 1, Desiree Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Ashlon Gaines 0-1 0-0 0, Chelsea Jonte 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 17-26 59.
    Halftime — Barton 29, Colby 22. Three-point goals—Barton 5-14 (Bloomfield 5-10, Brantner 0-1, Copeland 0-3); Colby 6-16 (Hoyt 3-3, Pagrode 2-3, Aramina 1-4, Jonte 0-1, Seals 0-2, Arnold 0-3). Rebounds—Barton 36 (Bloomfield 7); Colby 36 (Pagrode 6, Hoyt 6, Aramina 6, Liepina 6). Assists—Barton 7 (Copeland 3); Colby 9 (Arnold 3, Pagrode 3). Total fouls—Barton 20, Colby 18. Fouled out— Colby (Aramina); Barton (None).