Long losing streaks aren’t commonplace for the Barton Community College Lady Cougars this basketball season.
Barton, 15-10 overall and 5-6 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division play, entertains Butler tonight at 6 inside Kirkman Activity Center.
The Lady Cougars haven’t had more than a two-game losing streak at any point of their season. They lost back-to-back games in an early-season tournament in Midland, Texas, and lost two straight during conference play, falling to Pratt 53-46 at home on Jan. 28 before losing 61-57 to Cloud County in Concordia on Feb. 1.
Tonight, Barton will be taking on a Grizzlies team (14-10, 3-7) that it beat at El Dorado on Feb. 14, 55-39. While trying to avoid a two-game skid, the Lady Cougars will also be seeking to keep an even keel as they continue rebuilding their program under head coach Darin Spence.
“For right now, where we are, it’s a lot to ask for us to continue to put that out there,” Spence said. “Because of our depth issues, we don’t, it’s just hard.
“We want to expect more and we want to get better, but being a realist, it’s just hard, to think, man, we’re going to have to hit another level, on the road.”
While a road trip looms on Saturday night at second-ranked Hutchinson, Barton will be trying to avoid a second straight loss after losing 61-54 at Garden City on Saturday night.
Sophomore guard Devan Boeger matched sophomore forward and leading scorer Dionne Harris for a team-high 11 points against the Lady Busters.
In practice last Friday, Spence worked with his team on getting their bodies squared and having their feet set while anticipating a swing pass on shooting from the perimeter.
Boeger, who had only made 24 of 81 3s entering the game, knocked down 3 of 5 against Garden as Barton finished 7 for 19 from beyond the arc.
“Devan, we always tell her, she’s got to allow herself to take those shots and to be ready,” Spence said of Boeger, a 2010 Great Bend High School graduate. “She can make them and she had a huge night.
“She kept us in the game. She played a big, big role and you need those experienced sophomores to step up and really help you. Devan really was solid the entire game. It’s a lot asking of her defensively to guard the really quick, long kid, but she has really competed. She has gone above and beyond what a coach can ask.”