HILLSBORO — Sometimes, it’s all about how you recover.
For the Barton Community College women’s basketball team, it was all about recovering from 13 first-half turnovers against the Tabor junior varsity squad on Monday night.
The Lady Cougars were able to open up a lead late in the second period, winning 74-60.
“I thought our intensity, effort and focus dropped off drastically from Saturday night’s game,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said of his team’s first half. “That is something you hate to see.
“What we did in the second half was shorten up our bench. We only played the eight or nine girls who have been consistent for us, and I think it helped. We preach that you have to earn playing time, so I think from now on we’ll be playing the ones that earn it.”
A large part of Barton’s surge in the second half was freshman Payton Scheer, who put up a career-high 24 points. She shot 5-for-9 (55.5 percent) from 3-point range.
“She was big time,” Kruger said of Scheer. “Her ability to shoot kept us in the game in the first half, and down the stretch when we were starting to take over, we really looked to her. That was great to see.”
It was 3-pointers from sophomores Erin Copeland and Blair Bloomfield that sparked a 13-3 run, leaving Barton ahead 68-58 with less than two minutes remaining.
Copeland tied a career-high with 15 points.
Bloomfield finished with 11 points.
Barton, which improves to 8-2 on the season, hosts McPherson’s JV tonight at Kirkman Activity Center, starting at 5:30. It will be the Lady Cougars’ fourth game in five days.
“What I’ve learned in my short time as head coach is that it really isn’t up to me how the girls play,” Kruger said of trying to keep up the intensity. “We’ll say the right things, do the right things in the morning, but it is really up to the kids whether they want to bring it come game time.”

                                                                           — Kevin Price

JUCO BASKETBALL
Non-conference

WOMEN

At Hillsboro

Monday

Barton Community College 74,
Tabor JV 60
BARTON (8-2)
    Payton Scheer 7-11 5-6 24, Erin Copeland 6-9 0-1 15, Blair Bloomfield 4-10 1-2 11, Ashton Bruner 4-7 0-1 8, Taylor Mayes 2-2 3-7 7, Ta’Kerra Williams 2-5 1-2 5, Kelsey Keith 2-5 0-0 4, Taschell Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Jennifer Allende 0-2 0-0 0, Jackie Bueno 0-3 0-6 0. Totals 27-54 10-25 74.
TABOR JV
    Mallory Zuercher 8-18 2-5 19, Amber Tamez 2-7 6-7 10, Zeniah Morgan 2-5 4-4 9, Kendra Flaming 2-7 2-2 7, Taylor Janzen 3-8 1-2 7 Molly Dick 1-3 0-0 2, Maggie Leonard 0-4 2-2 2, Kimbralee Adams 0-4 2-2 2, Lindsey Radic 1-5 0-2 2, Bailey Ashton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 19-26 60.
    Halftime — Tabor JV 30, Barton 24. Three-point goals — Barton 10-21 (Scheer 5-9, Copeland 3-4, Bloomfield 2-5, Keith 0-2, Allende 0-1); Tabor JV 3-10 (Flaming 1-2, Morgan 1-2, Zuercher 1-3, Leonard 0-1, Adams 0-2). Rebounds — Barton 42 (Bruner 9, Williams 9); Tabor JV 39 (Tamez 6, Leonard 6). Assists — Barton 19 (Keith 6); Tabor JV 10 (Morgan 4). Turnovers — Barton 20; Tabor JV 17. Total fouls — Barton 19; Tabor JV 19.