If it were a heavyweight fight, the referee probably would have called it in the first round.
The Coffeyville men’s basketball came out and punched Barton in the face right from the start in the Region VI semifinal at Hartman Arena in Park City Tuesday night.
The Cougars never recovered.
The result was the end of the season for Barton as Coffeyville posted a 91-87 win over the Cougars to advanced to the championship game Wednesday.
The final score proved to be much closer than the game actually was as Barton outscored Coffeyville 7-1 in the final 20 seconds. The 4-point margin was as close as the Barton was in the final 30 minutes.
“They came out and punched us first,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. “We were in retreat from there. It was just too much to overcome.”
Barton ends its season with a 25-8 record. Coffeyville is 21-12. The Red Ravens will play Hutchinson (31-1) in the title game. Coffeyville is the only team to beat Hutch this season.
Hardly anything went right for the Cougars in the opening 20 minutes. Barton made just nine field – including 0-for-7 on 3-pointers. Meanwhile Coffeyville hit 18-of-35 field goals, going 4-for-8 on 3-pointers to build a 17-point lead.
Coffeyville jumped out to a 5-0 lead and then 9-2 five minutes into the game.
Coffeyville continued to pour on, taking a 16-6 lead at the 13-minute mark thanks to 10 second chance points. The lead eventually reached 13 at 21-8 with 12 minutes to play.
The Cougars finally found some rhythm going on a 10-0 run to get back in the game, trailing 21-18 with 10 minutes to play and give the Cougars some life.
But it was short-lived. The Red Ravens continued to score at will, pushing the lead back to double digits at 34-24. By half, the Red Ravens had extended its lead to 47-30.
After falling behind by 20, Barton briefly made things interesting in the second half, getting the lead down 11 with with still more than 12 minutes to play.
“Their lead wasn’t insurmountable,” Coach Fletchall said. “I thought we had a chance.”
But in a flash, the lead was back to 66-49.
“We just couldn’t get over that hump,” Coach Fletchall said. “Our guys kept fighting. It was just too big of a hole.”
The Cougars continued to fight and claw, getting the lead to 80-72 with 2:51 to play.
Coffeyville countered with a 4-0 run to damped hopes of a monumental comeback by the Cougars.
The Red Ravens still led by 10 with 20 seconds left before the Cougars did some cosmetic work on the final score.
It was the second straight year Coffeyville ended the Cougars season and the fifth time since 2002 the Red Ravens beat Barton in Region VI play.
Anthony Smith, playing in his final game for Barton, led the Cougars with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Malik Rhodes, another sophomore, added 16. Freshmen Jahlil Rawley and Charles Norman both scored 11 and sophomore Keeshawn Palmer added 10.
“We have some good kids,” Coach Fletchall said. “These six sophomore have raised the bar for this program. We just have to keep moving it forward. It’s tough to see their careers come to an end.”
Coffeyville had five players score in double figures as well, led by Tedrick Wolfe and Jordan Taylor with 19 each. Travis Washington added 18. Wolfe also had 10 rebounds and Washington eight assists.
In the other semifinal, top seed and second-ranked Hutchinson outlasted Butler, 105-103, in a classic. Each team led by double digits with eight lead changes and five ties. Hutchinson’s Devonte Bandoo hit a 3-pointer to give Hutch a 104-102 lead with 28 seconds to play.
Semaj Hervey missed a chance to tie the game for Butler with 14 seconds but couldn’t convert on the short jumper. After a JJ Rhymes missed free throw, Johnnathan Lindsey had another chance to tie with nine seconds left, but hit just 1-of-2 free throws.
After Rhymes hit 1-of-2 free throws, Lejuan Hardy had a driving layup to tie the game, but could not convert.
Rhymes led Hutch with 28 followed by Shakur Juiston with 24. Hardy scored 30 and Lindsey 29 for Butler.
In the women’s semifinals, things went as expected. The top seeds and two of the top four teams in the nation will play for the Region VI title. Both will advance to the NJCAA National Tournament regardless of the outcome.
Top seed Seward, ranked No. 4 in the country, rolled by Cloud County by a 72-54 score. Seward got 23 points from Joanna Grymek and 22 from Mollie Mounsey in the win. Grymek, a 6-8 post, added 14 rebounds.
Hutch, the two seed and No. 2 team in the country, won 81-58 over Cowley. Taylor Stahly scored 24 for the Blue Dragons and Lakin Preisner 15 to pace four Blue Dragons in double figures.

Coffeyville 91, Barton 87
Coffeyville 47 44 — 91
Barton 30 57 — 87
Coffeyville (21-12)
Keith 3-11 4-7 12, Cubbage 4-8 2-3 10, Washington 4-12 8-8 18, Wolfe 8-11 3-3 19, Roland 1-1 -12 3, Taylor 6-7 4-8 19, Poleon 4-6 0-0 8, Kalina 0-0 0-0 0, Jarrow 1-1 0-0 2. Totals – 31-57 22-31 91.
Barton (25-8)
Rhodes 6-15 2-3 16, Rawley 4-12 2-3 11, Toppin 3-5 0-0 6, Smith 10-12 2-3 23, Charles 2-8 2-2 8, Norman 3-11 4-4 11, Barbee 1-1 0-0 2, Palmer 2-3 6-6 10. Totals – 31-67 18-21 87 3-pointers – Coffeyville 7-13 (Taylor 3-3, Kieth 2-5, Washington 2-5); Barton 7-24 (Charles 2-5, Rhodes 2-7, Smith 1-1, Norman 1-3, Rawley 1-8).
Rebounds – Coffeyville 32 (Wolfe 10), Barton 37 (Smith 12). Assists – Coffeyville 14 (Washington 8), Barton 9 (Norman 5). Steals – Coffeyville 10 (Taylor 3), Barton 6 (6 with 1). Blocks – Coffeyville 1 (Poleon), Barton 4 (4 with 1) Turnovers – Coffeyville 12, Barton 15. Fouled Out – Rhodes, Smith, Barton. Technicals – None.

Region VI Playoffs
Men
First Round – Thursday at home sites
1 Hutchinson received a bye
9 Independence 82, 8 Garden City 69
5 Butler 90, 12 Allen County 71
13 Pratt 82, 4 Cloud County 76
14 Neosho County 79, 3 Dodge City 77
6 Coffeyville 77, 11 Colby 56
7 Cowley 92, 10 Northwest Tech 50
2 Barton 76, 15 Seward 62

Quarterfinals - Sunday at
Hartman Arena in Park City
1 Hutch 78, 9 Indy 54
5 Butler 115, 13 Pratt 102
6 Coffeyville 85, 14 Neosho 60
2 Barton 76, 7 Cowley 69
Semifinals – Tuesday at Hartman Arena
1 Hutch 105, 5 Butler 103
6 Coffeyville 91, 2 Barton 87

Finals – Wednesday at Hartman Arena
1 Hutch (31-1) v 6 Coffeyville (21-12), 7 pm
Women
First Round – Thursday at home sites
1 Seward (29-1) receives a bye
8 Independence 58, 9 Allen 35
5 Cloud County 76, 12 Pratt 44
4 Coffeyville 81, 13 Neosho County 46
3 Butler 86, 14 Dodge 57
6 Cowley 112, 11 Garden 51
7 Barton 85, 10 Northwest Tech 81 (OT)
2 Hutchinson 101, 15 Colby 37
Quarterfinals – Monday at Hartman Arena in Park City
1 Seward 57, 8 Indy 33
5 Cloud 82, 4 Coffeyville 62
6 Cowley 84, 3 Butler 77
2 Hutch 63, 7 Barton 44
Semifinals – Tuesday at Hartman Arena
1 Seward 72, 5 Cloud 54
2 Hutch 81, 6 Cowley 58

Finals – Wednesday at Hartman Arena
1 Seward (31-1) v 2 Hutch (32-1), 5 p.m.