29 March 2024
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) — So far, 22 basketball games have been contested since the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament tipped off last Sunday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Now, only one game remains, and it will feature the number-one-ranked team in the country.
The Barton County Cougars (35-1) will face the Triton Trojans (33-2) in the tournament championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Barton has won 59 national championships, with almost all of them coming in track & field and cross country. The junior college located just outside of Great Bend has never won a national championship in basketball.
The Cougars have a chance to change that Saturday.
Appearing in the NJCAA Championship for only the fifth time since 1991, the Barton starting five have had this one final game on their mind all season.
“We’ve got a good chance to go get the natty, and that’s what we plan to do,” said Mozae Downing-Rivers after Barton won the Region VI Tournament.
“Natty inbound, stay tuned,” added Cooper Jackson.
The Cougars hammered Indian Hills in Thursday’s semifinals 93-78. Sophomore LaJae Jones led Barton with 25 points. Sophomore Myles Thompson of Hutchinson added 21 points and 9 rebounds.
“It’s amazing. I’ll probably soak it in after. We still got one more game to win,” said Jones afterward.
It was the 26th consecutive win for the 35-1 Cougars.
“I’m just really excited for our program. Excited for our guys. You know, they’ve worked so hard to get to this point, and we were able to pull it off,” said Head Coach Jeremy Coombs. “Win, lose or draw, I would have been really pleased with our team. Just because we’ve had such a great year, but really excited that they got a chance to bring home a national championship to Barton. It would be the first time in school history.”
That’s right. Barton County basketball fans have waited a long, long time for this moment.
“I’m super excited. My uncle’s the coach, so I’m super excited and happy for him,” said young Cohen Campbell, a Barton fan visiting from St. Louis.
Campbell wasn’t on this earth yet when Barton last appeared in a national championship game. That was 25 years ago, in 1999.
“I was really excited. I mean, we just put the hammer down and never really gave them (Indian Hills) a chance. Everybody played so well, and it was just so exciting to see them win this game to get to the national championship,” said Barton fan Jeremy McGuire of Great Bend.
“Our coach, Jeremy Coombs, has done a wonderful job, and we’ve got a bunch of wonderful kids that go to class and work hard, and they deserve this,” said longtime Cougar fan Douglas Panning of Ellinwood. “And being about 10 or 11 deep on the bench, it’s what you need to win this tournament is a lot of depth. So, I think we can do it. We’re just going to have to put one more game together.”
Coombs, who coaches on a hilltop in Barton County, has almost reached the mountaintop in his third season at Barton.
“That’s one thing that, you know when Trevor hired me (Barton Athletic Director Trevor Rolfs), we talked a lot about, and that’s something that we wanted to make sure we were able to do, get the program going and have a chance to win a national championship,” said Coombs.
Now, Coombs’ Cougars are just one win away from glory.
“It feels amazing. I’m happy for myself and my teammates and coaching staff,” said Jones. “It’s great to have a chance to bring one home to the Cougar Nation family.”