It probably seems like Déjà vu for Barton Community College men’s head basketball coach Craig Fletchall.
Fletchall and his Cougars have been there before.
That’s a message Fletch drove home to his team as they parted ways for Christmas, unbeaten in 14 games and ranked No. 7 in the latest National Junior College Athletics Association Division-I basketball poll.
“One thing I talked to them in length about in a meeting before they left was the fact that we had three years where we had pretty good records entering the break,” said Fletchall, whose team returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 4, playing host to Kansas Jayahwk Community College Conference Western Division foe Seward at Kirkman Activity Center.
Rewind to the 2006-07 campaign, where the Cougars rode a 14-0 record into the holiday break and continued their assault on Jayhawk Conference foes, winning seven of their first eight games out of the gate and capturing the West title after finishing the regular season 21-1 before falling to powerhouse Coffeyville in the NJCAA Region VI finals.
Rewind to the 2007-08 season, where the Cougars took a 12-1 preseason record into the holidays.
“In 2008, we had more talent and we came back after Christamas and lost our first four games in conference,” Fletchall recalled. “I told our guys that I attributed that to complacency and we had to scratch and claw just to make to the region tournament (losing to Cowley in the quarterfinals).”
Rewind to 2008-09, a 13-1 preseason preceded the Cougars winning three of their first four games after the holidays on the road.
“We basically led the conference from start to finish and we won the league,” Fletchall said of his team, which finished 26-4, falling to Cowley in the region semifinals. “I just basically told our guys that we could be either or. We could be the team that became complacent and didn’t stay in shape over the break and struggled early in the conference or we can be like the 2008-09 team, where we’re improving as conference hits.
“The difference at this level vs. high school or even the four-year level, you’re just rolling the dice. When they come back from break and check the standings on the wall (in the locker room), it’s all going to be 0-and-0.”
Fletchall said he can draw parallels between this year’s team and those of yesteryear.
“I see a little bit of all three of those teams in this group,” Fletchall said. “I see a lot of athleticism, I see different guys that can score and the team is not reliant on just one or two guys.
“The negative that I see is that I don’t know if we have the leadership that we had from 2007 to 2009 and obviously, we don’t have the perimeter shooting.”
The Cougars shot only 26.6 percent on 3-pointers through the preseason (50 for 188).
“That concerns me,” Fletchall said,
Barton is led by freshman combination guard Algie Key in scoring (18.7 points-per-game average), assists (87) and steals (25). The Decatur, Ga., native ranks second on the team with 108 rebounds (7.7 average) despite standing 6-foot-3.
Sophomore power forward Dwayne Brunson ranks second in scoring (17.6) and is the team’s top rebounder (131 for 10.1 average). Sophomore swingman Carl Wallace is averaging 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds, and sophomore forward Darius Hill is averaing 10.7 points and 7.0 boards.
The Cougars figure to be bolstered by the return of freshman point guard Turon Parker from a knee injury. Parker played the first six games of the season before suffering the injury.
“I think it’s going to be huge for us,” Fletchall said of Parker. “I think it’s going to take a little more of the pressure off Algie, bringing the ball up all of the time and guarding everybody’s best player.
“Turon is our best on-ball defender, and maybe Algie can focus a little more on scoring and doing everything else.”