INDEPENDENCE — Things were looking up for the Barton Community College women’s basketball team in the first half of an NJCAA Region VI tournament first-round game on Saturday afternoon.
However, the No. 4-seeded Independence stepped up its game for a 69-59 victory over No. 13 seed Barton.
“We played really hard,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said of the first half, which saw the Lady Cougars lead 31-30 at intermission. “We had a few breakdowns here and there that led to them getting some looks that we didn’t intend to give them, but we played hard on offense. That gave us a lead at halftime.”
Barton trailed early, but a late first-half run gave the Lady Cougars, who were led by sophomore Blair Bloomfield’s 14 points and eight rebounds, the edge.
“We were down seven or eight at the first media timeout (less than 10 minutes remaining),” Kruger said. “We ended up going on a little run and took a three-point lead. We were able to carry a lead into half.”
That’s when things started going wrong for Barton.
“We executed our offense just as well,” Kruger said of the second half. “We just missed some shots, and we had a couple turnovers. Basically, its the same story from the (Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division) season. We’re our own worst enemy. We just weren’t able to finish them off.”
Sabrina Berry led three Independence players in double figures with 17 points. She went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Ashton Bruner finished in double figures with 13 points for the Lady Cougars.
Barton, which finishes the regular season at 13-17 overall, graduates five sophomores — Bloomfield, Erin Copeland, Taschell Phillips, Jennifer Allende and Ta’Kerra Williams.
“It was nice to see (Blair) finish the season strong,” Kruger said. “Really, we had good contributions from all of our sophomores. They went out the right way. They worked hard. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”
Copeland finished with 12 points, and Phillips added eight.

                   — Kevin Price

JUCO BASKETBALL
National Junior College Athletic Association
Region VI Basketball Tournament

WOMEN

Saturday

At Independence

First round

Independence Community College 69,
Barton 59
BARTON (13-17)
    Kailai Brantner 2-2 3-6 8, Jackie Bueno 0-0 0-0 0, Ashton Bruner 4-9 5-6 13, Jennifer Allende 1-2 0-0 2, Blair Bloomfield 5-11 2-2 14, Taschell Phillips 4-10 0-0 8, Taylor Mayes 1-2 0-0 2, Ta’Kerra Williams 0-3 0-2 0, Erin Copeland 3-11 4-4 12. Totals 20-50 14-20 59.

INDEPENDENCE (16-14)
    Sheylon Ryce 0-0 0-0 0, Erin Maxwell 2-2 0-0 4, U’knique Gaines 2-6 2-2 6, Kelby McGrath 4-14 3-4 15, Emily Patterson 0-1 0-0 0, Staci Thomas 1-6 1-3 3, DeKendra Ladoux 4-12 2-2 12, Sabrina Berry 5-10 7-8 17, Hali Ford 1-3 0-0 2, Danil Wallen-Morillo 2-4 0-0 4, Anastasi Riabencheko 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 24-61 15-19 69.
    Halftime — Barton 31, Independence 30. Three-point goals — Barton 5-15 (Copeland 2-6, Bloomfield 2-4, Brantner 1-1, Phillips 0-2, Bruner 0-1, Allende 0-1); Independence 6-21 (McGrath 4-13, Ledoux 2-7, Berry 0-1). Rebounds — Barton 32 (Bloomfield 8); Independence 39 (Thomas 8). Assists — Barton 5 (Phillips 2); Independence 8 (Thomas 3). Steals — Barton 1 (Bloomfield); Independence (None). Turnovers — Barton 2, Independence 2. Total fouls — Barton 18, Independence 14. Fouled out — None.