There appears to be something special brewing on the hill.
Missing three players – two starters – the Barton Community College men’s basketball team continued its high-octane offense Wednesday night, this time on the road. The Cougars traveled to Colby and left the Community Building with a 94-86 Jayhawk West win. The Cougars are averaging 92 points per game in West play and have topped the 80-point mark all but twice this season – both losses.
The win improved Barton to 5-1 in the West and 17-3 overall. Barton remained alone in second in the conference behind 6-0 Butler Community College. Barton’s only West loss has been at No. 4 and unbeaten Butler (20-0) by two in El Dorado.
“We played pretty well,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. “We were short a few guys again and this is not an easy place to play. Anytime you can go on the road and win in the conference it is a good win.”
The win also marked the expiration date for the 2-game suspension being served by those three players –including sophomore guard Ahmad Walker – who leads Barton in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Starting forward Eddie Hunt and backup guard Tyron Hamby also sat for the second straight game after an altercation at the end of the Seward County game.
The Cougars navigated those pair of games with a perfect 2-0 mark and a riding a 3-game win streak in the conference. Colby fell to 2-5 in the West and 11-10 overall. Barton rolled to a 105-93 win over Hutchinson in the previous game.
“We had to make sure we didn’t have a letdown,” Coach Fletchall said. “We were coming off a big win over Hutchinson but we were still short those three players. I think having a week off let us make sure we were focused going to Colby.”
During both games Barton had players step up their game. Two of those have been Jalin Barnes and Khalil Gracey. The two sophomore guards were instrumental Wednesday as each put up career-highs in the win.
The two combined for 51 points with Barnes leading the way with 26 and Gracey adding 25.
Gracey, a 6-4 freshman, caught fire in the first 20 minutes and was a main factor in the Cougars building a halftime lead. Gracey scored 19 in the opening half. He had a string of 11 straight at one point as Barton grabbed control of the game in the opening nine minutes.
Gracey had netted 14 by the time Barton built a 25-16 lead with 11 minutes left. When Gracey knocked down his fourth trey of the half his point total had reached 19 and the Cougars were still in control at 34-25 with five minutes to play.
Barton built the lead to 44-32 before heading to the locker room up 44-35.
Despite never trailing after 5-0 deficit to open the game, the Cougars could never shake the Trojans. Barton’s lead stayed just under double figures for most of the second half. Colby got it down as low as three at 74-71 with 6:49 to play.
The lead was 81-76 with four minutes left when Kenny Enoch fouled out, leaving the Cougars with just eight players.
It was at that point Christian Smith hit his first basket of the game – 3-pointer from the right wing – to spark a quick 5-0 run that gave the Cougars an 86-78 lead with just more than two minutes to play.
The contest was still in doubt when Colby’s Bruce Watkins hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game to make it 88-84 with 35 seconds to play. But the Cougars hit 4-of-6 free throws from there to close out the win.
The second half belong to Barnes offensively as the 6-1 sophomore from Raleigh, NC poured in 18 second half points. Barnes has really stepped up since West play began, topping the 20-point mark for the fourth time in six games with his career-high mark of 26 against Colby. He is averaging 21.7 per game in West action.
It was the first time Gracey hit the 20-point mark in West play and the first time since November. He also snagged a career-high 14 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. His previous rebound high was eight.
Tyrone Acuff followed up his career-high 28 point effort against Hutchinson with an 18-point night at Colby. Enoch added 11.
The Cougars will look to keep on the heels the Grizzlies for the conference lead when Pratt visits the Barton Gym Saturday. The defending West champion Beavers are 3-3 in the conference and 12-8 overall. They are coming off a 103-90 home loss to Hutchinson Wednesday.
Tip is set for 7:30 pm and will follow the recognition of three new members to the Barton Sports Hall of Fame. Gene Butler, Jeff Christy, and Pete Manley will be inducted at 3 p.m. in the Kirkman Activities Center.
“We have one of our own going in,” Fletchall said. “Gene Butler played here back in the early ’90’s on some very good teams – one made it to the national tournament. We have to go out and play well and make him proud.”