Web posted
Monday, March 10, 2008
Lift off, Cowley 58 - Barton County 49
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Photo by David Wolman
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Tigers set new school record with 30th win
By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
sports@arkcity.net
WICHITA -- Cowley College's single-season record 30th win didn't come easy.
The Tigers, ranked ninth nationally, appeared to be in cruise control after building a 16-point lead early in the second half, but Barton County wasn't about to throw in the towel on its season. The Panthers responded and got to within six points with less than seven minutes remaining.
However, ice-cold shooting down the stretch prevented Barton County from getting any closer -- making only two of its last 16 shots to finish 24.3 percent overall -- as Cowley pulled out an 58-49 win over the Panthers in a Region VI Tournament men's semifinal on Sunday afternoon at Koch Arena.
Cowley advances to today's 5 p.m. semifinal against defending tournament champion Coffeyville, who survived Hutchinson 78-74. Barton County finished the season 23-8.
Sunday's record win broke the previous mark set by the 1952-53 Tigers, who went 29-5 and finished as the national runner-up. First-year coach Steve Eck acknowledged the feat, but was just happy to leave with a win.
"It's just nice that we won the ball game," he said. "I don't think the guys even know that."
Chip Steven hit his only three-pointer of the game to bring Barton County to within 42-36 with 6:36 remaining. But as the Panthers kept launching shot after shot from the perimeter, it only got more depressing for coach Craig Fletchell to watch.
The Panthers finished shooting an abysmal 17-of-70 from the field, including 5-of-26 on three-pointers. Barton County, which had been held below 60 points only once this season, finished far below its season average of 86 points.
"The main thing of the game was that we had to play defense and to guard their shooters," Eck said. "I thought that we did a good job of doing that today."
Chris Jackson led Barton County with a game-high 14 points, while Qa'rraan Calhoun and Sandy Perry each finished with 11 points.
Jack Crowder recorded a two-handed dunk with 6:15 remaining and Cowley made seven of its last eight free throws to ice the game.
"Jack's a scrapper, he does that sort of stuff," Eck said.
Crowder finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Chris Rhymes added 11 points.
Strong free-throw shooting keyed Cowley's efforts. The Tigers finished 19-of-22 at the foul line, compared to 10-of-19 for Barton County.
However, just like Barton County, Cowley had its own struggles from the field.
Things didn't quite start the way the Tigers had hoped, as they missed their first seven shots. Barton County took advantage, jumping out to an 8-2 lead on a Qa'rraan Calhoun three-pointer just over four minutes in.
"I don't think it was being jittery, I think it was more anxious of getting going," Eck said. "We just had to settle down and play defense."
Cowley's offense finally started to see its shots drop -- at least a few of them -- shortly after Calhoun's basket. Preston Brown hit a layup to cut Barton County's lead to four points.
Slowly, the Tigers chipped away at the Panthers' lead until Montrell McDonald provided the boost they needed.
McDonald, who has been battling the flu over the last several days, cut the passing lane and rushed down the sideline for a one-handed dunk to give Cowley the lead for good.
"Any time I do something positive for the team, it gets them fired up," McDonald said. "They look forward to me coming out with a positive attitude and coming out with energy."
On the ensuing Cowley possession, Eric McKinney finished off an alley-oop dunk on a nice feed by Mike Atwater. Two possessions later, Reggie Cook hit his only three-pointer of the game for an 18-12 Tigers lead.
McDonald twice had to be treated for cramps on the sideline, including when he was assisted off the court in the waning seconds of the game. Somehow, he managed to log almost 34 minutes and record 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"I didn't want this to be my last game," McDonald said. "I'm a sophomore. I don't have a next year. I came here to win a national championship. It's just one step closer."
Still, Cowley found itself leading only 23-16 at halftime. That can be attributed to shooting only 26.5 percent in the first half. Luckily, Barton County shot only 22.6 percent.
The Tigers came alive in the second half and made 9-of-19 shots (47.4 percent), compared to 10-of-39 (25.6 percent) for Barton County.
Box score:
Barton County -- Jackson 4-21 4-4 14; Calhoun 3-16 3-7 11; Perry 5-10 1-2 11; Parris 1-8 2-2 4; Steven 1-8 0-0 3; Williams 1-2 0-0 2; Simmons 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 17-70 10-19 49.
Cowley -- McDonald 4-8 5-6 13; Crwoder 4-9 4-4 12; Rhymes 3-10 5-6 11; Hammerschmidt 2-6 0-0 6; Brown 1-6 3-4 5; Cook 2-8 0-0 5; McKinney 2-4 0-0 4; Butler 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 18-53 19-22 58.
Halftime -- Cowley 23, Butler 16. Three's -- Barton County 5-26 (Calhoun 2, Jackson 2, Steven); Cowley 3-15 (Hammerschmidt 2, Cook). Rebounds -- Barton County 46 (Calhoun 12); Cowley 47 (McDonald 10). Assists -- Barton County: 12 (Calhoun 3, Parris 3); Cowley: 15 (Cook 6). Technicals: none.
Above: Cowley College sophomore Montrell McDonald goes up for one of his two first-half dunks during Sunday's Region VI Tournament quarterfinal win over Barton County.
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