PRATT – It was a key game Wednesday night for the Barton women’s basketball team.

It was key for a couple reasons. First and foremost the winner of the Cougars contest with Pratt would be alone in the third. Second, it would give Barton a little revenge for the loss to Pratt earlier in the year in Great Bend.

The Cougars took all doubt out of the contest with a big third quarter on the way to a 79-56 win at the Lesh Sports Arena.

Barton is now alone in third in the West at 10-5. The Cougars are 17-7 overall. Pratt slips into fourth at 9-6 and 16-7.

“We did what we needed to do in the second half to get the win,” Coach Alan Clark said. “Back in Great Bend, we really didn’t play well. We knew coming in here if we did the things we were supposed to do, we could be successful.”

Barton jumped out to a 9-0 lead on the Beavers, holding Pratt scoreless halfway through the opening period. Mallory Miller knocked down a couple long shots – including one 3-pointer.

But Pratt would rally back. The Beavers got the lead down to 14-12 after a 7-0 run to end the opening quarter as Barton struggled to hold onto the ball, turning it over 10 times in the quarter.

The Pratt run lasted into the second period and when Courtney Cleveland hit a trey early in the period, the Beavers had their first lead at 15-14. Jaylin Stapleton ended the run with a 3-pointer with eight minutes left in the half.

Miller continued her hot shooting. When she hit her third trey midway through the second quarter, Barton’s lead was back to six at 25-19.

But again, turnovers kept the Cougars from extending that lead. A couple turnovers converted into five Pratt points cut the lead to a single digit.

Barton went to half with a 30-27 lead despite turning the ball over 17 times in the half.

The third quarter proved to be the difference.

The Cougars established control early in the period. Following an Irene Chukwudi bucket in the lane, Barton had matched its biggest lead of the game at 36-27 just three minutes into the second half.

Back-to-back baskets by Ryen White put Barton on a 10-0 run to start the third and gave the Cougars a 40-27 lead with 6:51 left in third.

The run reached 15-0 on Miller free throws at the midway point. By the time Pratt scored – on a free throw by Jazmin George – Barton had a 47-27 lead with just 2:07 left in the third.

“It was a good stretch of basketball for us defensively,” Coach Clark said. “We knew we had to cut back on the turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds. Once we did that, we got control of the game.”

The period mercifully ended for the Beavers with Barton on top 54-34.

That, as they say, was all she wrote. Barton led by as many as 26 in the final period on the way to the win.

Stapleton led three Cougars in double figures with 16. Miller added 15 and White 10. Taylor Regan, fresh off a school record 25 rebounds Monday, led Barton with 11 boards as the Cougars out-rebounded Pratt 45-24.

Barton hit a sizzling 23-of-26 at the free throw line and after 17 first half turnovers, finished with 23 total.

Courtney Cleveland scored 14 to lead Pratt.

Next the Cougars can move to within a couple games of clinching a home playoff game when Dodge City visits the Barton Gym on Hall of Fame night with a 5:30 pm tip.

BARTON 79, PRATT 56

Barton 14 16  24 25 – 79

Pratt    12 15   7 22 – 56

BARTON (10-5, 17-7)–White 3-3 4-4 10, Stapleton 4-8 7-8 16, Regan 2-4 2-2 6, Miller 4-7 4-4 15, Chukwudi 3-6 2-2 8, Turney 3-8 0-0 7, Hunt 0-0 0-0 0, Talbott 1-1 0-0 2, Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Keith 0-1 0-0 0, Ndao 1-1 2-2 4, Dirks 2-3 0-0 5, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Dolinsky 0-2 1-2 1, Nichols 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 25-46 23-26 79.

PRATT (9-6, 16-7) –George 4-11 1-2 9, McElrath 1-10 0-0 2, Tippins 2-5 0-0 5, Cleveland 3-12 5-6 14, Douvier 3-11 1-4 8, Tullis 2-5 5-7 9, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Sanchez 2-3 0-0 4, ChaDricka 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-63 12-29 56.

3-pointers – Barton 6-17 (Miller 3-6, Dirks 1-2, Stapleton 1-3, Turney 1-3, Phillips 0-1, Keith 0-1, Dolinsky 0-1), Pratt 6-24 (Cleveland 3-6, Tippins 1-2, Cuellar 1-2, Douvier 1-6, Tullis 1-2, Anderson 0-1, Sanchez 0-1, McElrath 0-2, George 0-3). Rebounds–Barton 45 (Regan 11), Pratt 24 (Cleveland 7). Assists–Barton 8 (Stapleton 3), Pratt 6 (McElrath 3). Steals–Barton 4, Pratt 8 (George 3). Blocks–Barton 2 (Chukwudi, Keith). Turnovers–Barton 23, Pratt 14. Fouled out–Cleveland, Pratt. 

JAYHAWK WEST WOMEN

Hutchinson 14-1 23-1

Seward County 14-1 22-2 

Barton 10-5 17-7

Pratt 9-6 16-7

Dodge City 7-7 12-11

Garden City 6-9 11-13

Colby 3-11 8-14

NW Tech 0-15 0-23

JAYHAWK EAST WOMEN

Butler 12-2 21-2

Cowley 10-5 19-6

Independence 8-7 13-9

Cloud County 7-7 14-9

Neosho County 5-10 8-18

Coffeyville 4-11 5-19

Allen 1-13 3-21

MONDAY--Barton 104, Allen 46

WEDNESDAY--Barton 79, Pratt 56; Cowley 95, Coffeyville 50; Hutchinson 100, NW Tech 69; Independence 93, Neosho 79;  Seward 83, Garden City 65

THURSDAY--Dodge City at Colby; Butler at Cloud

SATURDAY--Dodge City at Barton; Allen at Butler; Hutchinson at Garden City; Cloud at Coffeyville; Colby at NW Tech; Pratt at Seward; Cowley at Neosho