Numerous 3-pointers were falling on Tuesday night at Kirkman Activity Center on the Barton Community College campus.
The Lady Cougars went 10-for-18 from 3-point range in an 82-59 rout of McPherson’s junior varsity.
“I thought we did a great job pushing the tempo right away,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said. “I thought that was the key. Payton (Scheer) shooting the ball. Erin (Copeland) at the point was getting it pushed up, and we had Blair (Bloomfield) and Payton sprinting and Ashton (Bruner) and Ta’Kerra (Williams) running the floor hard.
“That’s got to be something that we do all the time for 40 minutes.”
An 18-0 run that spanned more than five minutes put the Lady Cougars in the driver’s seat early.
Bloomfield, Scheer and Kelsey Keith each knocked down 3-pointers to spark the scoring explosion that left the Lady Bulldogs behind 25-5.
Scheer drilled in three 3s in the first half, as Barton went 5-for-10 from beyond the arc in the opening period.
“I think I’ve always felt comfortable (shooting 3-pointers),” Scheer said. “I think it’s always been part of my game, so that’s definitely where I feel comfortable at.”
Scheer, who was coming off a career-high 24 points on Monday night against Tabor JV, scored all 12 of her points with 3-pointers, going 4-for-5 on the night for 80 percent.
“It definitely pushed me more,” Scheer said. “It gave me a little boost. We knew from the beginning that we’d be a good shooting team, so I think that’s something that we’re trying to stick to for the rest of the season.”
While shots were falling from long range in the first 20 minutes, the Lady Cougars struggled at the free-throw line.
Barton made 4 of 12 free throws in the first half. It finished 8-for-19 (42.1 percent).
“It has been a struggle for us,” Kruger said of free throws, “and it’s going to cost us games at some point. It has already, so I think we just need to bear down and shoot a million free throws.”
McPherson was able to close the gap to 49-39, but a 3-ball from Copeland revitalized Barton’s offense as they kept a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
Taschell Phillips led the Lady Cougars with 16 points. Bruner finished with 13, and Copeland added 10.
Jackie Bueno finished with a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Barton travels to Arkansas City to challenge Cowley on Saturday night at 6.
JUCO BASKETBALL
Non-conference
WOMEN
At Great Bend
Kirkman Activity Center
Tuesday
Barton Community College 82,
McPherson JV 59
McPHERSON JV (1-1)
Chandler Short 3-10 7-8 14, Chelsea Savage 3-13 2-2 11, Krushanda Harrold 3-13 2-5 8, Jill Ast 3-15 1-2 7, Natasha Chaney 3-7 1-3 7, Tori Verdieck 2-3 0-0 4, Whitney Jefferson 1-8 1-2 4, Shapprrea Ramzy 0-0 2-4 2, Bailey Brown 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 19-75 16-26 59.
BARTON (9-2)
Taschell Phillips 8-15 0-3 16, Ashton Bruner 6-8 1-6 13, Payton Scheer 4-7 0-0 12, Erin Copeland 3-9 2-2 10, Blair Bloomfield 4-7 0-0 9, Ta’Kerra Williams 2-4 3-6 7, Kelsey Keith 2-6 0-0 5, Taylor Mayes 1-3 2-2 4, Brandy Winbush 1-1 0-0 3, Jennifer Allende 1-4 0-0 3, Tomiaya Graham 0-1 0-0 0, Jackie Bueno 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 32-70 8-19 82.
Halftime — Barton 41, McPherson JV 25. Three-point goals — McPherson JV 5-14 (Savage 3-5, Jefferson 1-2, Short 1-3, Brown 0-1, Ast 0-3); Barton 10-18 (Scheer 4-5, Copeland 2-4, Allende 1-2, Keith 1-4, Bloomfield 1-2, Winbush 1-1). Rebounds — McPherson JV 53 (Harrold 11); Barton 53 (Bueno 10). Assists — McPherson JV 3 (Short 2), Barton 21 (Copeland 9). Turnovers — McPherson JV 19; Barton 16. Total fouls — Barton 24; McPherson JV 19.
