It didn’t take long for the outcome to no longer be in doubt. After a slow start the Barton Community College men’s basketball put the pedal to the floor, rolling by the Sterling JV 114-43 at the Barton Gym Tuesday night.
The game at the Barton Gym was the first for the Cougars since the opening weekend after playing four straight away from home. Barton improved to 6-1 with the win and have now won four straight.
Barton led by a single digit at 8-7 early in the contest, then went on a 19-3 run and never looked back. The Cougars increased the led to 49-22 by intermission.
The onslaught continued into the second half against the outmanned Warriors. Barton got the lead over 50 at the midway point and coasted home to the 71-point win.
“We got the opportunity to play a lot guys so that was a positive,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. “Everyone played and everyone scored.
“We also got Ahmad (Walker) back from quad injury so it was good to get him some minutes.”
Walker had not played the last four games.
Kenny Enoch led Barton with 22 points on the strength of four 3-pointers. In his return Walker added 16 points and led Barton with six assists. Tyron Hamby added 15 points.
The Cougars also got good points from reserves Cody Holthaus and Jordan Windholz. Holthaus, a freshman from Douglass scored 12 and Windholz, a freshman from Hays, added 11.
Another facet Coach Fletchall was pleased to see was the unselfish play with 24 assists and just seven turnovers.
“You expect that when you play a JV but sometimes guys want to ‘go get theirs’ so to speak,” Coach Fletchall said. “That wasn’t the case. We played very unselfish.”
Now Barton heads to Hesston to take on the Larks Friday. Hesston is also coming off a win over the Sterling JV Saturday and are currently 5-3 on the season. The only losses for the Larks have been to Hutchinson twice and Northern Oklahoma-Enid. The Larks lost 94-85 at Hutch then in Hesston by a 79-73 count.
“Hesston will be good game for us Friday,” Coach Fletchall said. “It seems like we never play well there. They will have everyone in gym and it will be a great atmosphere.
“That is going to be a good test for us. It is our first true road game.”
Barton will be back at home Tuesday to take on the McPherson JV then host the Best Western/Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic. Barton will play Independence the day after Thanksgiving and take on Cowley College the follow day.