WICHITA — The Barton Community College women’s basketball team had their run in the NJCAA Region VI tournament cut short on Friday afternoon.
Challenging the 31-1 Butler in a semifinal game, Barton fell 57-45.
“I thought our kids came out and played hard and battled,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said. “We just came up short on the offensive end.”
Things didn’t start out well for the Lady Cougars.
Butler got out to a 12-0 lead, keeping Barton off the scoreboard until the 12:33 mark in the first half.
“We didn’t make the good shots that we did get, and in the first stretch, we struggled to get the good shots that we wanted,” Kruger said. “They are very tough defensively. It’s tough to get in the lane, and they have the length and athleticism to guard jump shots.”
Mariana Lambert knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, cutting the lead in half.
Barton got within three points a couple of times, but couldn’t close the gap in the first half, trailing 23-17 at intermission.
In the second half, the Lady Grizzlies held Barton at arm’s length, keeping around an eight-point lead throughout.
Lambert finished with 20 points, going 5-for-9 from 3-point range. She was the only Barton player in double figures.
“She came out and shot the ball well,” Kruger said. “That’s what you got to do against a team like Butler if you want to score. She did a great job.”
Cheyenne Hedrington led the team with six rebounds.
Barton ends its season with a 20-13 record.
“I was really proud of our players,” Kruger said. “They showed up every day and worked hard to get better.
“It didn’t always show up during the conference part of our schedule, but we were able to get a couple of big wins in the postseason.”

                             — Kevin Price

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NJCAA Region VI Tournament

WOMEN

Friday

At Wichita
Koch Arena

Semifinal

Butler 57, Barton 45
BARTON (20-13)
     Mariana Lambert 6-14 3-4 20, Phikala Anthony 3-6 2-2 8, Brandy Winbush 2-7 2-3 7, Cheyenne Hedrington 2-6 0-0 4, Ashton Bruner 2-3 0-0 4, Taylor Mayes 1-3 0-0 2, Ciera Lampe 0-1 0-0 0, Victoria Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Kailai Brantner 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 16-44 7-9 45.
BUTLER (32-1)
     Ashley Gibson 6-11 2-2 16, Te’era Williams 4-11 4-5 12, Shayla Williams 4-7 0-0 11, Teanna Reid 1-8 7-8 9, Ashlee Ivy 1-7 1-2 3, Alli Heimerman 0-1 2-2 2, Kynadi Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Terryuana Godwin 1-5 0-0 2, Shelbe VandeBerghe 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Andersen 0-1 0-0 0, Chelsea Hodison 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 16-19 57.
     Halftime — Butler 23, Barton 17. Three-point goals — Barton 6-19 (Lambert 5-9, Winbush 1-6, Hedrington 0-2, Lampe 0-1, Anthony 0-1); Butler 5-16 (Williams 3-5, Gibson 2-5, Reid 0-2, Ivy 0-2, Godwin 0-1, Williams 0-1). Fouled out — Barton (Bruner); Butler (None). Rebounds — Barton 28 (Hedrington 6); Butler 36 (Williams 9). Assists — Barton 7 (Brantner 5); Butler 8 (Reid 4). Total fouls — Barton 19; Butler 13. Turnovers — Barton 19; Butler 15.