The Barton Community College women’s basketball team got off to a good start to the season, winning both games of the Highland Hotel/Pizza Hut Classic on Friday and Saturday at Kirkman Activity Center.
On Saturday, the Lady Cougars took off early, riding an early lead to an 86-71 win over McCook.
“That’s kind of the plan,” Barton women’s head coach Carter Kruger said. “We want to start the half strong. We want to get going into our flow, on the offensive end especially.
“We guarded them well early, and we kind of shut them down.
Even with the 2-0 start, Kruger said he was still seeing things to improve on.
“We’ve got a lot of people in the games so far,” Kruger said. “We’ve got a lot of early experience for our bench, but there are still some things that we’re seeing that we need to fix.
“It’s not personnel issues, which is great. It’s just basketball things that we need to get better.”
The Lady Cougars started things off with an 8-2 run.
Cheyenne Hedrington got things started, driving to the basket for two points.
Taylor Mayes, who had seven points and seven rebounds in the first half alone, got one of her three putbacks in the half, followed by Mariana Lambert hitting a pullback jumper.
McCook’s Janecia Jenkins got her team on the scoreboard with a driving layup.
On the next trip down the floor, Lambert got fouled going for a layup and boosted Barton to an 8-2 lead with a pair of free throws.
A 9-0 run spanning more than three minutes put some more distance between Barton and McCook.
Mayes scored on three straight possessions, getting things started with a putback, putting in one of two free throws and sinking a driving layup.
Sharyce Warren made a pair of free throws before Bethany Bowman hit a jumper, giving the Lady Cougars a 24-9 advantage with 7:21 remaining before halftime.
Barton held a 41-28 lead at intermission.
The Lady Cougars had nine steals in the first half, 11 in the game.
Hedrington was Barton’s leading scorer, topping a list of five players in double figures scoring with 22 points.
“We’re always going to be a pretty balanced team,” Kruger said, “because we’ve got so many weapons. We need to continue to refine some things on people’s roles, who needs to be taking shots and from where. Once we get that figured out, the sky’s the limit for us.”
Mayes nearly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Bruner, Lambert and Brandy Winbush each finished with 10 points.
Bruner had seven rebounds.

Barton 78, Arizona Western 74 (OT)
Barton opened its season with an overtime victory.
The Lady Cougars led 37-28 at halftime, but let Western back in it in the second half.
Barton outscored the Matadors 11-7 in overtime for the win.
Ashton Bruner led the Lady Cougars with 18 points. She had nine rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.
Winbush came off the bench to score 15 points, going 5-for-9 from the 3-point line.
Mayes, who along with Bruner, nearly missed a double-double, had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Lambert finished with 12 points and Kailai Brantner finished with 10.

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Highland Hotel/Pizza Hut Classic

WOMEN

Saturday

At Great Bend
Kirkman Activity Center

Barton 86, McCook 71
McCOOK
     Briana LaChapelle 0-4 0-0 0, Janessa Newman 0-2 0-0 0, Janecia Jenkins 8-15 7-9 23, Cydnee Ceballos 9-13 13-15 31, Myranda Fischer 0-4 2-2 2, Danielle Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Ashle Stokes 0-2 12-16 12, Stephanie Hylton 0-0 0-0 0, Tricia Manning 0-0 0-0 0, Julie Gallegos 4-13 0-0 9. Totals 21-53 34-42 71.
BARTON (2-0)
     Ashton Bruner 4-10 0-2 10, Cheyenne Hedrington 8-15 6-6 22, Taylor Mayes 4-7 3-4 11, Kailai Brantner 1-7 2-3 4, Mariana Lambert 3-11 2-3 10, Sharyce Warren 1-5 4-4 6, Brandy Winbush 2-7 4-6 10, Phikala Anthony 1-6 2-2 5, Bethany Bowman 3-3 0-0 6, Ciera Lampe 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 27-73 25-32 86.
     Halftime — Barton 41, McCook 28. Three-point goals — McCook 1-14 (Gallegos 1-6, LaChapelle 0-3, Fischer 0-3, Newman 0-2); Barton 7-20 (Lambert 2-7, Winbush 2-5, Bruner 2-3, Anthony 1-3, Warren 0-1, Lampe 0-1). Rebounds — McCook 44 (Cebalice 14); Barton 41 (Mayes 9). Assists — McCook 2 (LaChapelle 2); Barton 16 (Brantner 5, Warren 5). Steals — McCook 6 (Stokes 2, Jenkins 2); Barton 11 (Hedrington 4). Total fouls — McCook 29, Barton 26. Turnovers — McCook 26; Barton 17.