BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
DODGE CITY — The Coffeyville men’s basketball team came out with the sexy, hitting its first four 3-pointers in a matter of minutes.
But in the end, it was the muddy that propelled them to the Region VI semifinals with a 92-79 win over Barton at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City Sunday afternoon.
The loss ends the Cougars season with a 23-9 mark while the 25-8 Red Ravens meet Butler County in the Region VI championship. Butler advanced by beating Colby 98-97 in double overtime. The Red Ravens beat high-scoring Cowley 87-83.
It’s the first time the Cougars failed to reach the semifinals in four years. Coffeyville won the Region in 2017 and 2018. After losing in the semis last year, took third at the NJCAA Championships.
“It’s always difficult to have your season come to an end,” Barton Coach Craig Fletchall said. “Our kids competed. Coffeyville was just the better team today.”
While many will point to that hot shooting start for Coffeyville it was the power of the Red Ravens that made the difference.
When Tony Hutson hit the Red Ravens fourth straight 3-pointer to start the game, the Red Ravens led 12-7 with just more two minutes gone.
But thanks to Martin Vogts’ second trey for Barton on the following possession, Barton had nearly gone point-for-point with Coffeyville during the 3-point barrage to open, down just 12-10.
For the rest of the afternoon, Coffeyville would go just 4-of-16 behind the arc.
And for the rest of the afternoon, the Red Ravens would dominate the paint. From that point on, the Ravens would outscore Barton 54-32 in the paint.
“They are just physically stronger than us and we could not stop them,” Coach Fletchall said. “Our guys are not real physical. We are more finesse. They were just pounding the ball inside and we could not stop them.”
Coffeyville’s was 48-33 at half. The biggest run was 7-0 for a 41-27 lead. Barton never challenged Coffeyville. Meikkel Murray led a quintet of Red Ravens in double figures with 21.
The lead reached 20 points (76-56) at the 6:29 mark. The Cougars rattled off seven points for a 76-63 score. Coffeyville’s lead was 82-73, on a Keandre Bowles bucket with 2:19 left.
Barton finished 7-of-18 on 3s, Coffeyville 8-of-20. The Cougars hit 14 free throws and the Red Ravens 14. But Coffeyville made 27-of-41 shots for 66 percent on 2-pointers. Barton made 22-of-45 shots.
Bowles led Barton with 21 points off the bench. Sophomores Vogts and Mavrick Gildyard each added 17 points. Also closing out their Barton careers Anthony Enneking finished with eight points and eight rebounds while Diovonte Caldwell scored six.
COFFEYVILLE 92, BARTON 79
Coffeyville 48 44 — 92
Barton 33 46 — 79
COFFEYVILLE (24-8)—Murray 9-17 2-2 21, Hutson 6-14 2-4 17, Perry 5-9 4-5 17, White 4-5 3-4 11, Crump 3-4 0-0 7, Reid 1-1 0-0 2, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Holt 2-4 0-4 4, Dunham 5-6 3-3 13. Totals 35-61 14-22 92.
BARTON (23-9)—Bowles 7-14 4-6 21, Gildyard 8-13 0-2 17, Holden 1-7 4-4 6, Caldwell 1-10 4-8 6, Vogts 6-9 2-3 17, Enneking 4-5 0-0 8, Harmon 1-1 0-0 2, Munson 1-2 0-0 2, Widiger 0-0 0-0 0, Koehler 0-0 0-0 0, Carr 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-63 14-23 79.
3-pointers–C 8-20 (Perry 3-6, Hutson 3-8, Crump 1-1, Murray 1-3, Smith 0-1, Holt 0-1), BC 7-18 (Bowles 3-4, Vogts 3-6, Gildyard 1-2, Holden 0-1, Carr 0-1, Caldwell 0-4). Rebounds–C 36 (Crump 7), BC 32 (Gildyard 9). Assists–C 18 (Murray 5, Perry 5), BC 15 (Holden 4, Vogts 4). Steals–C 9 (White 6), BC 11 (Bowles 4). Turnovers–C 17, BC 16.
REGION VI PLAYOFFS
FIRST ROUND—Hutchinson 92, Allen 64; Barton 91, Cloud 85; Coffeyville 97, Dodge 63; Indy 86, Seward 74; Butler 74, Garden 56; Neosho 104, Pratt 90
QUARTERFINALS—Cowley 110, Hutchinson 91; Coffeyville 92, Barton 79; Colby 99, Indy 93; Butler 82, Neosho 65
SEMIFINALS—Coffeyville 87, Cowley 83; Butler 98, Colby 97, 2 OT
FINALS—Coffeyville 25-8 vs. Butler County 25-7
