HAYS — The No. 14 ranked Barton Cougars, the defending NJCAA champions, are virtually assured of an NJCAA Tournament berth after downing Jayhawk League runner-up No. 21 ranked Coffeyville 89-74 in Friday's Region 6 basketball semifinal.

The Cougars (25-7) win the season series 2-1 and qualify for Saturday's Region 6 championship game against No. 5 ranked Cowley College (28-4) at Fort Hays State's Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Cougars split with Coffeyville during the season with a 75-64 victory and an 89-85 setback to the Red Ravens.

Cowley swept the Cougars 74-71 and 95-67. The Region 6 champion earns an automatic NJCAA berth and the loser is a virtual lock for an NJCAA invitation.

Barton's Williams and Keandre Kindell each scored 25 points to spark the Cougars, who shot 50% from the field (32-64). Eltramon Smith, Jr. added 15 points.

Coffeyville's Griffith scored 28 points, but converted 9 of 25 field goals, 7 of 19 from long range. 

The Cougars led 42-21 at halftime, but continued a season-long trend of ineffective second-half defense. Coffeyville scored 53 second-half points. The Cougars have endured multiple second halves of yielding 60-plus points. 

Barton 42 47—89

Coffeyville 21 53—74

BARTON (25-7) (FG 3 FT TP)—Williams 9-11 (5-5) 2-2 25, Kindell 9-15 7-8 25, Smith 5-7 (1-3) 4-4 15, Muchitsch 3-8 (0-3) 0-0 6, Rodriguez 3-11 (0-3) 1-2 7, Moss 2-7 5-6 9, Ivanov 1-2 0-1 2, N'Gombo 0-2 0-0 0, Brooks (0-1) 0-0 0, Totals 32-64 (6-15) 19-23 89

COFFEYVILLE (23-9) (FG 3 FT TP)—Griffith 9-25 (7-19) 3-5 28, Ruth 2-9 (1-6) 1-1 6, Taylor 6-12 (1-3) 0-2 13, Ntambwe 4-5 5-7 13, Kuta 3-8 2-2 8, Ngulic 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 2-3 (0-1) 0-0 4, Caporaso 0-0 2-2 2, Totals 26-64 (9-29) 13-19 74

Rebounds—BC 32 (Moss 7), C 40 (Kuta 10). Assists—BC 9 (Kindell 4), C 9 (Taylor 3). Steals—BC 11 (Rodriguez 4), C 5 (Taylor 2)

JAYHAWK MEN

Cowley 21-3 28-4

Coffeyville 18-6 23-9

Barton 17-7 25-7

Hutchinson 15-9 19-12

Butler 15-9 22-11

Colby 12-12 18-14

Garden City 12-12 18-14

Hays Northwest 11-13 14-16

Dodge City 11-13 15-17

Independence 8-16 12-19

Cloud 7-17 14-18

Pratt 7-17 11-20

Seward 2-22 3-26

REGION 6 MEN

FIRST ROUND-—Dodge City 96, Fort Hays Tech Northwest  82; Butler 95, Pratt 78; Cloud County 85, Colby 83; Garden City 88, Independence 86 (OT)

QUARTERFINALS—Cowley 87, Dodge City 74; Butler 74, Hutchinson 73; Barton 100, Cloud County 87; Coffeyville 80, Garden City 67

SEMIFINALS, HAYS —Cowley 58, Butler 54; Barton 89, Coffeyville 74

3-15 FINALS HAYS—Cowley (28-4) vs. Barton (25-7), 5 p.m.