Guards stole the show on Wednesday, but it was Coffeyville who got the last laugh as the Ravens defeated Barton 75-65.
The Red Ravens had plenty of motivation in this one, looking to avenge its worst loss of 2021, a 74-48 drubbing at the hands of the Cougars. The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams going on long runs that set the stage for the rest of the contest. Leading scorer Love Bettis got going early, recording 3 first-half threes and 13 total points. However, Bettis was matched nearly step-for-step by the Cougars’ Cougar Downing, who added 11 of his own to keep the Cougars within 1 at the half, 37-36.
Both teams continued to go blow-for-blow out of the locker room, although Coffeyville was briefly able to build itself an 8-point lead early in the half. Downing continued to punish the Ravens, continuously finding ways to get open from deep. All in all, Downing sank ___ three-pointers, but Bettis mostly found ways to match him with 5 of his own. Ultimately, it’d be Coffeyville with just a little bit more left in the tank, as they took the final of 12 lead changes with a few minutes left and cruised to a 75-65 victory.
Bettis finished with 25 points, while Barton’s Downing had 28. Coffeyville improves to 11-10 on the campaign and 8-7 in Jayhawk Conference play. The Ravens will travel to Hutchinson next Saturday to take on the Blue Dragons.