EL DORADO — Barton Community College was able to generate some energy to hit Butler from all directions on Saturday night at the Power Plant.
Powered by a game-high 16 points for power forward Dionne Harris, a trio of 3-pointers by Shea Shoemaker and a pair of timely second-half baskets and a 3 by Raven Anderson, the Lady Cougars answered Butler’s every run in the second half in a 55-39 road victory.
Barton head coach Darin Spence captured his 300th career Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference victory with the win. Spence was making a Homecoming of sorts at Butler, a school where he began his KJCCC coaching career after serving one year at his alma mater, now-defunct Marymount College in Salina, fresh out of college.
“I wasn’t even aware about it until after the game,” said Spence, who now has accumulated 446 overall career coaching wins. “I don’t keep track of that stuff because of my coaching at the Division I level at New Mexico State and my NAIA-level stuff.
“Any time you hit certain milestones, it’s special. I got my 400th win at New Mexico State against UTEP and to get my 300th at my old school is pretty special. It’s kind of neat.”
While he was Butler’s women’s head coach (1988-92), Spence recorded a 117-47 record, including two Jayhawk West titles and reaching the NJCAA Region VI finals twice.
Butler hasn’t won any titles since before or after Spence left. He departed Butler to become Cowley’s men’s assistant coach in 1993.
“We did some really good things while we were here,” Spence said.
With the win, Barton improves to 12-6 overall, 2-2 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Western Division. Butler is now 11-6, 0-3.
“We started the game off with a lot more energy and a lot more purpose, something we haven’t done in our two conference games we lost,” Spence said. “We tried to get back to our identity of playing defense, and I think we played good man-to-man defense in that first half.
“It allowed our offense to get some shots. Our offense got better, and it was a good win for us.”
The decisive run for the Lady Cougars came on an 8-0 flourish in the second half, extending a 35-28 lead to 43-28. Freshman forward Blair Bloomfield scored a pair of buckets in the paint and then Anderson, who totaled seven points, knocked down consecutive perimeter jumpers, her second coming with 6:43 left in the game.
The Lady Cougars, who finished 6 for 11 on 3s (54.5 percent), were able to maintain that lead the rest of the way.
In first-half action, Shoemaker and Devan Boeger each hit back-to-back 3s, Shoemaker’s coming at the start and Boeger’s at the end of the half. In between, Harris scored eight-first-half points on a variety of drives to the hoop.
“If I wasn’t open, I was trying to get the ball to the open player,” said Harris of the Lady Cougars dishing out 16 assists compared to only four for Butler. “We’re 2-2 in the conference now and we’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Barton shot 47.4 percent from the floor in the first half (9 for 19), outrebounded Butler 15-13 and overcame 14 turnovers to lead 25-19 at halftime.
Cold-shooting Butler hit only seven of its first 21 field goals (33.3 percent), but stayed close via making 3 of 4 3-pointers, including back-to-back from Destiny Whitehead in the closing minutes of the half.
Barton freshman guard Jennifer Allende is expected to have arthroscopic surgery on her right knee on Friday. Allende, a Great Bend High School product, suffered her injury at the Hesston Classic before Christmas and has had a slow recovery.

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community
College Conference
Western Division

At El Dorado
Saturday

WOMEN

Barton 55, Butler 39
BARTON (12-6, 2-2)
     Shea Shoemaker 3-6 0-0 9, Raven Anderson 3-3 0-0 7, Blair Bloomfield 2-7 1-3 5, Dionne Harris 6-9 4-4 16, Erin Copeland 0-3 3-4 3, Devan Boeger 2-3 0-0 6, Taschell Phillips 2-8 0-0 4, Netanya Jackson 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 20-42 9-13 55.
BUTLER (11-6 0-3)
     Jamillah Bonner 4-13 2-4 11, Tekoya Thompson 1-1 0-0 2, Tysia Manuel 2-5 1-4 5, Samantha Saterlee 0-2 0-0 0, April Miller 0-2 0-3 0, Destiny Whitehead 3-1 0-0 8, Chantee Louis 1-3 0-0 3, Imari Lyons 0-1 2-4 2, Brea Rice 0-0 0-0 0, Mia Wesley 1-3 0-0 2, Jordyn Tolefree 0-4 0-0 0, Christy Couey 0 0-0 0, Asia Watson 0-1 2-3 2, Kiara O’Neal 1-3 2-2 4, Tonya Elliott-Salas 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 13-51 9-22 39.
     Halftime — Barton 25, Butler 19. Three-point goals — Barton 6-11 (Shoemaker 3-3, Boeger 2-3, Anderson 1-1, Copeland 0-2, Bloomfield 0-1, Phillips 0-1); Butler 4-17 (Whitehead 2-8, Louis 1-3, Tolelfree 0-3, Bonner 1-1, Saterleee 0-1, Wesley 0-1). Rebounds — Butler 35 (Bonner 6, O’Neal 5, Manuel 4); Barton 34 (Shoemaker 8, Anderson 6, Phillips 4, Blomfield 4, Harris 4). Total fouls — Barton 21, Butler 18. Fouled out — None. Assists — Barton 16 (Copeland 6, Bloomfield 3); Butler 4 (Tolefree 2). Turnovers — Barton 22, Butler 20.