It came down to a final shot by Barton Community College point guard Erin Copeland.
A last-second 3-pointer rattled off the rim and out as Seward County held on for a 65-63 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division win on Saturday night at Kirkman Activity Center.
“That’s something we’ve done in practice,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said of the inbound play to Copeland. “It went halfway down and popped out. When I saw it hit the rim, I thought it was good. Then it popped out and my heart just dropped. I feel bad for Erin. I feel bad for Blair (Bloomfield). She had a tough stretch at the end.
“We’ve got to let this mature us.”
The Lady Saints improve to 15-7 overall, 6-3 in the Jayhawk West. Barton topples to 12-10, 2-7.
With 3:42 remaining, Bloomfield plunged a 3 in to close the gap to 64-62.
Kailai Brantner made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:26 left to make it a one-point deficit.
In the final minute, Ashton Bruner, who finished with 12 points, missed the front end of a one-and-one, followed by Bloomfield missing a pair of free throws.
Seward County’s Ricquia Jones made the front end of two free throws, making it 65-63 with 19.8 remaining.
Barton’s Kelsey Keith missed a 3-pointer from the left wing. Bloomfield got an offensive rebound, but her putback was blocked out of bounds with 1.0 on the clock.
The inbound pass reached Copeland, who took an open trey, which bounced around the rim before falling out.
“We had a lot of chances to win,” Kruger said. “Our kids battled, and we executed down the stretch. It just didn’t work out for us. That’s what we talked about after the game. That’s the game of basketball. Sometimes it doesn’t work out for you.
“Sometimes you don’t get the calls. Sometimes you don’t get the rolls. Sometimes you don’t get the bounce.”
The Lady Cougars had five players in double figures with Bloomfield leading with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She finished 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
Phillips scored 12 points, and Copeland added 10.
While neither team took a commanding lead in the first half, Barton put together a 6-0 run for a 19-12 lead with 8:18 remaining.
Ta’Kerra Williams put in a layup to get the Lady Cougars started.
Taylor Mayes, who scored all of her 10 points in the first half, put in a shot off the glass and rattled home a pair of free throws.
“She was nice tonight,” Kruger said of Mayes. “She was good for us. We played her a bit toward the end of the game, because we thought her size could help us inside a little bit. It did, but we weren’t able to pull it out.”
Seward responded with an 11-2 run, including a trio of 3-pointers, to take a 23-21 lead.
Both teams traded points with Barton leading 30-29 at halftime.
The Lady Cougars travel to Dodge City on Wednesday night, starting at 6.
JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community
College Conference
Western Division
WOMEN
Saturday
At Great Bend
Kirkman Activity Center
Seward County
Community College 65,
Barton 63
SEWARD (15-7, 6-3)
Ricquia Jones 6-10 1-2 16, Madison McLain 5-11 2-3 13, Avery Burns 3-5 1-2 10, Bridget Crandall 3-3 0-0 9, Shanise Brooks 3-6 0-1 6, Fabiana Monte 2-9 0-1 4, Kelsey Blair 1-7 0-0 3, Marta Oledzka 1-2 0-3 2, Sheree Ryan 1-2 0-0 2, Janel Tammen 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 4-12 65.
BARTON (12-10, 2-7)
Blair Bloomfield 4-9 2-5 13, Taschell Phillips 6-14 0-0 12, Ashton Bruner 4-7 4-6 12, Erin Copeland 4-9 0-0 10, Taylor Mayes 4-6 2-2 10, Ta’Kerra Williams 2-6 0-0 4, Kailai Brantner 0-1 2-4 2, Jackie Bueno 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Keith 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 10-17 63.
Halftime — Barton 30, Seward 29. Three-point goals — Seward 11-27 (Crandall 3-3, Burns 3-4, Jones 3-6, McLain 1-4, Blair 1-7, Monte 0-3); Barton 5-14 (Bloomfield 3-6, Copeland 2-6, Keith 0-2). Rebounds — Seward 34 (McLain 6); Barton 41 (Bloomfield 10). Assists — Seward 20 (Monte 5); Barton 11 (Copeland 3). Steals — Seward 9 (Brooks 3); Barton 8 (Bruner 2, Bloomfield 2, Copeland 2). Turnovers — Seward 19, Barton 19. Total fouls — Seward 16, Barton 18. Fouled out — Seward (Brooks); Barton (Brantner, Phillips).
