IOLA – A new month and a new winning streak for the Barton men’s basketball team.
Okay, one game isn’t a streak, but the pattern has been the same so far this year. The Cougars open each month with nothing but wins, then in the final game of each month, Barton finishes with a loss.
One of those losses – the last game of November – was to Allen County after Barton opened the season with nine straight wins.
The Cougars got a little revenge Saturday afternoon in Iola, starting February off with a 95-79 win over Allen at the Brick House.
“It was a good win for us,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. The veteran coach was back on the bench after missing his first game due to illness in 13 years at Barton Wednesday night.
“We found a rhythm finally later in the first half and for a good stretch in the second half. When we play like that, especially on defense, we are a pretty good team.”
The win came on the heels of Barton’s third loss of the season in the final game of January, ending an 8-game winning streak.
Barton is now 16-3 in the Jayhawk and hit the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in seven seasons at 20-3. That is good for a one-game lead in the conference over Coffeyville, who is 15-4. Hutchinson, 14-4, is at Colby Sunday. Allen is now 4-15 and 6-17.
As has been the case much of the season, Barton fell behind right away, trailing 5-0 in the opening minute.
That immediately put Barton in the pursuer mode. At the media timeout of the first half, Allen still had a 20-17 lead.
The No. 7 Cougars took their first lead on a Marvin Cannon fast-break layup with 8:22 left, 21-20.
Barton extended the lead to 28-25 on a Keshon Montague 3-pointer with 6:30 left as the Cougars couldn’t shake the home team.
Barton finally got some separation late in the half and when Montague hit Elijah Ford for a fast-break layup, Barton led 37-29 with 4:05 to play.
The Cougars kept the pressure on. The lead reached double figures on a short jumper by Akeem White to make it 39-29. Noah Webster took his turn, knocking down a short bank shot to make the run 11-0 and the lead 41-29.
Barton took a 48-35 lead to halftime as Kawanise ‘Squeak’ Wilkins scored a layup on a nifty pass from Montague at the buzzer.
Barton made sure there would be no need for late heroics this time. When Webster hit a trey from the left corner with 15 minutes to play, Barton had a 61-42 lead.
The lead reached 20 on a Webster layup and free throw with 14:16 to play for a 64-43 lead. Another Webster trey made it 67-43 the next trip down. He made it 12 straight Barton points with his third trey in a matter of minutes for a 70-45 lead.
Ford jumped on the 3-point band wagon for a 73-45 with 13 minutes left as Barton began to make it a route. A White dunk made it 75-45. It went to 77-45 the next trip on an alley opp to from Montague to White for back-to-back dunks for the freshman with still more than 11 minutes to play.
The final 10 minutes would be just a matter of getting the game over.
Kannen Haist got in the scoring column with 5:50 to play on a short bank shot to make it 92-60. The sophomore would eventually match his career-high of four points.
Webster led the Cougars with 21 points thanks to four 3-pointers. Wilkins added 15, White 14, Ford and Montague 13 each and Cannon 10. Montague also finished with 10 assists.
Jordan Marshall led the Red Devils with 20.
Barton will be home Wednesday to take on Independence. Tip against the Pirates, 10-8 in the Jayhawk, will be at 7:30 p.m.
No. 7 Barton 95, Allen 79
Barton 48 47 – 95
Allen 35 42 – 79
Barton (16-3, 20-3) 95
Wilkins 6-11 2-3 15, Ford 6-11 0-1 13, Cannon 4-8 2-3 10, Montague 5-15 1-2 15, Webster 7-13 3-3 21, Andrews 1-3 0-0 2, White 7-9 0-0 14, Dalyrimple 1-5 0-0 2, Haist 2-2 0-0 4, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Broomfield 0-1 1-2 1. Totals – 39-79 9-14 95.
Allen (4-15, 6-17) 79
Williams 0-9 4-4 4, Hoepker 5-14 2-2 17, Carroll 2-10 7-7 11, Marshall 9-18 0-0 20, Patterson 4-7 6-9 14, Silsby 0-2 0-0 0, Winston 2-3 1-2 6, Platt 1-3 0-1 2, Anderson 2-3 0-0 5. Totals –- 25-69 20-25 79.
3-pointers – Barton 8-20 (Webster 4-9, Montague 2-4, Wilkins 1-2, Ford 1-2, Andrews 0-1, White 0-1, Dalyrimple 0-1); Allen 9-36 (Hoepker 5-12, Marshall 2-7, Winston 1-1, Anderson 1-2, Silsby 0-2, Williams 0-6, Carroll 0-6). Rebounds – Barton 48 (Wilkins 8, Ford 8), Allen 43 (Marshall 11). Assists – Barton 19 (Montague 10), Allen 10 (Winston 3). Steals – Barton 5 (Ford 2), Allen 3 (3 with 1). Blocks – Barton 4 (Ford 2), Allen 0. Turnovers – Barton 8, Allen 12. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – Patterson, Allen.
