SALINA — Getting to the Region VI Championship game is a feat in its own right. An accomplishment to be proud of.
For the third straight season, the Barton women’s basketball team was there, in the Region VI title game, playing for a Region VI Championship.
Unfortunately, for the third straight year, the Cougars came up short in their quest for an automatic bid to the NJCAA Tournament.
This time it was Hutchinson that defeated Barton in the title game. The Blue Dragons won 82-66 at the Tony Pizza Events Center in Salina.
“It’s tough,” Coach Alan Clark said of losing for the third straight year in the title game. “Hopefully our team can see what it takes. We have a lot of kids coming back. We will miss some sophomores but we have a good group coming back and hopefully we will be back here again.”
Hutchinson will take a 28-5 record to the NJCAA Tournament later this month in Texas. Barton, 20-13, is likely done for the year. At-large bids will be awarded later today but the Cougars will more than likely not get one of those bids.
“They’re a good team,” Coach Clark said of Hutchinson. “They are a tough matchup for us. They have a couple of 3-year kids and quite a bit of experience. We don’t have as much experience.”
Hutchinson began to build a lead thanks to some good 3-point shooting late in the first quarter and into the second. The Blue Dragons built a 10-point lead before Barton trimmed it to 39-34 by half.
The Blue Dragons hit 7-of-14 3s while Barton was 0-for-4.
Hutchinson started the second half with a 5-0 run and pushed the lead to 49-37 with 7:30 to play in the third period as Barton could only muster a 3-pointer from Brennan Kirchhoff during the 10-3 run to open the final 20 minutes.
The lead grew to 15 by the media timeout midway through the third period, 55-40.
It looked like the Blue Dragons were going to put the game away as the lead hit 17. But Barton finished the period on a 6-0 run, all from Morgan Meyers in the final 1:17 to cut the lead to 61-51.
Barton got the margin down to nine early in the fourth but Hutchinson had another run that made the climb a steep one for the Cougars.
In fact, Hutch hit its biggest lead at 77-57 midway through the final quarter on the heels of a 13-2 run.
That would prove to be the final blow to the Cougars season.
Acorianna Lard and Kirchhoff each scored 15 to lead the Cougars. Meyers added 12. Lard also had eight rebounds.
Barton 73, Indy 62
In semifinal action, Barton jumped to a 20-12 lead after the first quarter on the way to a 73-62 win over the top seed in the tournament, Independence.
Barton closed out that first quarter on a 7-0 run behind a bucket from Lili Shubert, a pair of free throws from Jenny Nkem Womsi and a 3-pointer from Lard.
The lead reached 15 on another Shubert bucket, 30-15, three minutes into the second period. But Indy rallied to trim the lead to six at intermission, 40-34.
Both teams had a sluggish start to the third period and midway through the quarter, Barton led just 44-40.
Buckets from Alissa Heskamp and Nkem Womsi got it back eight, 48-40. Back-to-back buckets late in the period from Meyers and Lard along with two free throws by Mikaela Hall closed out the period on a 6-0 run for Barton and a 57-43 lead.
Barton led by at least eight the entire fourth quarter to advance to the Region VI finals for the third straight year.
Brennan Kirchhoff led the way with 16 points as the sophomore knocked in three 3-pointers. Meyers and Nkem Womsi each scored 13 while Lard and Heskamp ended with 10 each.
Nkem Womsi grabbed 13 rebounds as Barton dominated the boards, 50-30.
Championship
Hutch 82, Barton 66
Barton 21 13 17 15 - 66
Hutch 28 11 22 21 - 82
Barton 20-13 (66)
Lard 6-17 2-4 15, Kirchhoff 7-14 0-0 15, Meyers 4-8 3-4 12, Nkem Womsi 3-5 3-4 9, Hall 2-4 0-0 4, Shubert 1-2 4-4 6, Heskamp 2-3 0-0 4, Fanning 0-0 0-0 0, Foxhall 0-0 1-2 1, Wolf 0-0 0-0 0, Rumford 0-0 0-0 0, Crites 0-0 0-0 0, Schroer 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals - 25-53 13-18 66.
Hutch 28-5 (82)
Payne 1-3 0-0 3, Ervin 5-11 4-5 15, Kailahi 4-10 4-4 13, Alford 4-7 1-1 9, Williams 9-17 0-1 21, Washington 4-5 0-0 11, Simms 0-1 0-0 0, Howard 3-8 0-0 6, Morris 0-0 0-0 0, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0, Craig 2-3 0-0 4. Totals - 32-65 9-11 82.
3-pointers -- Barton 3-12 (Meyers 1-2, Lard 1-4, Kirchhoff 1-5, Heskamp 0-1), Hutch 9-23 (Washington 3-4, Williams 3-8, Kailahi 1-1, Payne 1-2, Ervin 1-4, Alford 0-1, Simms 0-1, Howard 0-2).
Rebounds - Barton 31 (Lard 8), Hutch 31 (Ervin 8). Assists - Barton 6 (Shubert 2), Hutch 11 (Williams 3). Steals - Barton 4 (Meyers 2), Hutch 10 (Williams 3). Blocks - Barton 3 (Lard 2), Hutch 2 (Williams, Howard).
Turnovers - Barton 20, Hutch 11. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.
Semifinals
Barton 73, Indy 62
Barton 20 20 17 16 - 73
Indy 12 22 9 17 - 62
Barton 20-12 (73)
Lard 4-7 1-2 10, Kirchhoff 6-17 1-3 16, Meyers 3-11 6-8 13, Nkem Womsi 3-3 7-9 13, Hall 0-2 2-2 2, Shubert 3-8 2-2 8, Fanning 0-1 1-2 1, Heskamp 4-6 1-2 10. Totals - 23-56 21-30 73.
Indy 24-6 (62)
Ojeda 4-8 1-2 10, Kham 2-4 0-0 5, West 2-9 0-0 5, Marcal 6-19 3-4 15, Harris 5-12 1-2 14, Snipes 1-3 0-0 2, Van Dyke 0-2 0-0 0, Bazylewicz 3-6 4-5 11, Attaway 0-0 0-0 0, Lowman 0-1 0-2 0, Stephens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals - 23-64 9-15 62.
3-pointers -- Barton 6-19 (Kirchhoff 3-8, Lard 1-2, Heskamp 1-2, Meyers 1-4, Hall 0-1, Shubert 0-2); Indy 7-25 (Harris 3-6, Ojeda 1-2, Bazylewicz 1-2, Khan 1-3, West 1-6, Van Dyke 0-1, Marcal 0-5).
Rebounds - Barton 50 (Nkem Womsi 14), Indy 30 (Ojeda 8). Assists - Barton 8 (Nkem Womsi 3), Indy 6 (Marcal 3). Steals - Barton 5 (Nkem Womsi 3), Indy 5 (Marcal 2). Blocks - Barton 1 (Lard), Indy 4 (Ojeda 2).
Turnovers - Barton 19, Indy 11. Fouled out - Harris, Indy. Technicals - None.
Women’s Region VI Playoffs
1st Round at higher seeds
Saturday, Feb 26
1 Indy received a bye
9 Butler 49, 8 Garden 40
4 Barton received a bye
5 Cowley 63, 12 Pratt 54
2 Hutch received a bye
7 Dodge 70, 10 Cloud 62
3 Seward received a bye
11 Colby 73, 6 Coffeyville 55
Quarterfinals at higher seeds
Tuesday, March 1
1 Indy 60, Dodge 48
4 Barton 83, 5 Cowley 65
2 Hutch 72, 7Dodge 52
3 Seward 74, 11 Colby 67
Semifinals at Salina
Friday, March 4
4 Barton 73, 1 Indy 62
2 Hutch 92, 3 Seward 84
Finals at Salina
Saturday, March 5
2 Hutch 82, 4 Barton 66
2 Hutch (28-5) advances to NJCAA Tournament
Men’s Region VI Playoffs
1st Round at higher seeds
Saturday, Feb 26
1 Dodge received a bye
8 Colby 80, 9 Cloud 71
4 Garden received a bye
5 Coffeyville 67, 12 Seward 45
2 Hutch received a bye
10 Pratt 63, 7 Barton 82
3 Butler (22-8) receives a bye
6 Cowley 63, 11 Indy 60
Quarterfinals at higher seeds
Tuesday, March 1
1 Dodge 89, 8 Colby 84
4 Garden 84, 5 Coffeyville 67
2 Hutch 110, 10 Pratt 82
3 Butler 59, 6 Cowley 52
Semifinals at Salina
Friday, March 4
1 Dodge 89, 4 Garden 77
2 Hutch 92, 3 Butler 85
Finals at Salina
Saturday, March 5
1 Dodge (28-4) v 2 Hutch (25-7), 8 pm
