March 10, 2008

Tigers beat Barton County 58-49, break school-record for wins

Having played basketball for 85 seasons, the No. 9-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team accomplished a first in the program’s history as its 58-49 win over Barton County Sunday in Wichita established a new school-record for wins (30).

The victory over the Cougars advances Cowley to the semifinals where they will play archrival Coffeyville today at 5 p.m. at Wichita State University’s Koch Arena.

The top-seeded Tigers have now won 13 straight and improve to 30-2 on the season. Coffeyville (24-8) defeated Hutchinson 78-74 on Sunday.

On Sunday, Cowley started slow as they trailed 10-5 six minutes into the game. However, after a timeout, the Tigers settled down and used a 13-2 run to lead 18-12.

Cowley held Barton County to 22.6 percent shooting and forced 12 first half turnovers in opening a 23-16 halftime lead.

Following the halftime intermission, the Tigers came out firing and led 36-20 after a three-pointer by Kyle Hammerschmidt with 14:46 left to play.

Barton answered with a 9-0 run to cut Cowley’s lead to 36-29 and got within six points (42-36) of the Tigers on Chip Steven’s three-pointer with just under seven minutes remaining.

On the ensuing possession Cowley’s Chris Rhymes was fouled and sent to the line for two shots. Rhymes hit the first free throw and missed the second, but Jack Crowder rebounded the miss and then scored inside. Rhymes then made a steal as Barton tried to bring the ball down court and fed it to Crowder for a lay up, increasing Cowley’s lead to 47-36.

Barton never got closer than within nine points of the Tigers the rest of the way as Cowley went 19-of-22 from the free-throw line.

The difference in the game was the Tigers’ ferocious defense as they held Barton County to 24.3 percent shooting and 37 points below its season average.

“Our one constant was our defense,” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said. “We guarded their shooters really well.”

The Cougars’ Chris Jackson and Qa’rraan Calhoun, who each average over 17 points per game, made just 7-of-37 shots from the floor.

Cowley sophomore Montrell McDonald (pictured), who was so sick he had to go to the hospital on Friday, not only played, he led the Tigers with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“I really didn’t think Montrell was going to play today,” Eck said. “He had a good game for us.”

Rhymes, the Tigers’ leading scorer on the season, scored just two points in the first half due to foul trouble. The sophomore came up big in the second half as he finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Crowder gave the Tigers a huge lift off the bench as he finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Cowley will now turn its attention to Coffeyville. The Tigers defeated Coffeyville both times the teams played this season. However, the Red Ravens have won the Region VI title five of the past six seasons.

“They have got a lot of experience,” Eck said. “We just need to get ourselves ready so we can last an entire ball game.”

Box score:
Barton (49): Qa'rraan Calhoun 3-16 3-7 11, Javon Parris 1-8 2-2 4, Chris Jackson 4-21 4-4 14, Chip Steven 1-8 0-0 3, Antowine Lamb 1-1 0-2 2, Sandy Perry 5-10 1-2 11, Nyika Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Matt Simmons 1-3 0-2 2, Jon Pike 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-70 10-19 49.

Cowley (58): Preston Brown 1-6 3-4 5, Reggie Cook 2-8 0-0 5, Montrell McDonald 4-8 5-6 13, Kyle Hammerschmidt 2-6 0-0 6, Chris Rhymes 3-10 5-6 11, Marcus Butler 0-2 2-2 2, Jack Crowder 4-9 4-4 12, Zach Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Eric McKinney 2-4 0-0 4.Totals 18-53 19-22 58.

Three-pointers: Barton 5-26 (Calhoun 2-8, Parris 0-1, Jackson 2-11, Steven 1-5, Pike 0-1), Cowley 3-15 (Butler 0-1, Cook 1-6, McDonald 0-2, Hammerschmidt 2-4, Rhymes 0-2). Rebounds: 46 (Calhoun 12), Cowley 47 (McDonald 10). Assists: Barton 12 (Calhoun, Parris, Jackson 3), Cowley 15 (Cook 6). Turnovers: Barton 17, Cowley 21. Total fouls: Barton 16, Cowley 19. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.