Reeling off eight straight victories, unranked Hutchinson is the hottest men’s basketball team in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Divison.
The Barton Cougars, meanwhile, are merely trying to stay in the upper crust of the standings. Barton, 22-5, 8-5, is tied for third place in the West with Cloud County, a team it plays a week from Saturday in Great Bend. The Cougars trail conference-leading and NJCAA 13th-ranked Seward County by two games and Hutch by one.
Colby (19-9, 7-7) comes calling to Kirkman Activity Center on Saturday night at 8 to meet the Cougars in a game that could go a long way in securing a home berth for the upcoming NJCAA Region VI playoffs.
“With that in mind, I think the Colby game is the biggest game of the year for us,” Barton head coach Craig Fletchall said. “We’re 2-3 this time around in conference play and we need to keep some distance between us and the teams below us.
“It will take an extreme longshot, we’re going to have to find some help to win the league. Our second goal is to get a home playoff game and considering there’s not much distance between first and seventh place, we’re going to have to take care of business.”
The Cougars, who dropped out of the national poll, were idle on Wednesday, and are coming off a 71-60 setback at Hutchinson last Saturday night, a game where they shot only 32.4 percent from the floor (24 for 74) and managed to sink only 12 of 20 free throws.
“I think the teams are playing us the same way because our guys have become pretty much one-dimensional,” Fletchall said. “We either score in transition or we’re having trouble scoring.
“It’s a well-coached league and the second time around, they’re sending people back on defense and stopping our transition. They’re really taking the ball out of Algie’s hands, and we need some guys to step up.”
The Cougars are led by freshman guard Algie Key, who is averaging team bests of 18.3 points and 5.23 assists. He also ranks second on the team with a 6.9 rebounding average.
Sophomore forward Dwayne Brunson is averaging nearly a double-double with a 17.3 scoring average, coupled with a team-best 9.5 rebounding average.
Colby is led by guard Carson Konrade, a sophomore from Spearville, who is averaging 14.6 points and has knocked down a team-best 66 of 169 3-pointers (39.1 percent). Backcourt mate Jamie Adams is averaging 12.8 points, and the Trojans’ Vincent Dillard is averaging 12.7.