Charles Chaney
Student Sports Media
Sometimes when your number is called, you step in and do what is needed. Raegan Sanchez did just that on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Fresh off back-to-back losses, combined by four points, Sanchez scored nine points and pulled down 10 rebounds en route to Butler women’s basketball team beating Barton County 55-50.
Butler is now 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in the Jayhawk Conference.
“We have a next person up mentality,” ninth-year Head Coach Mike Helmer said. “Raegan stepped up when we needed her and she was there all night.”
Sanchez played a career high 38 minutes in the victory due to the injury of Nakylia Carter, who missed her second straight game with a concussion.
Butler started out the game streaking, going up 9-0 before Barton County called their first time out. Back-to-back buckets by sophomore Raven Prince forced the Cougar timeout.
“I’m really proud of these ladies for the way they performed tonight,” Helmer said.
After Barton made a run, cutting the Butler lead to 13-10 with 2:36 left in the opening quarter, Butler went on a 12-3 run, pushing their lead to double-digits at 25-13 with 7:28 left until halftime.
The Cougars would not be outdone, they came back with a big 12-2 run of their own, but it was freshman Halee Roland’s big three-pointer and a Prince shot with one second on the clock, giving Butler the 32-27 lead at the break.
For the second straight game, the third quarter became a worry point for Butler. Against Seward, they dominated early which eventually led to their demise. Against Barton, the Grizzlies would go 5:29 without scoring a single point. The big difference this game? The Butler defense came to play. They held Barton without a bucket for 7:10 over the same time as Butler would not score.
“That was huge for us,” Helmer said. “The game could have gotten away from us, but I’m proud of the way they responded.”
Sophomore Kyeria Hannah scored on a jumper, putting Butler up 46-38 with 7:20 remaining in the contest. Hannah responded with 5:57 remaining, draining a three-pointer with 5:57 remaining, giving Butler a 51-42 lead.
While Barton County would push the Grizzlies to near 51-48 with 4:27 remaining, Hannah would drain another jumper, giving Butler a 53-48 lead and the Grizzlies would sink two free throws to ice the Cougars.
“I liked our resiliency tonight,” Helmer said.
Butler will continue their tough Jayhawk Conference slate as they played at Cowley on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Then, they played Allen County on Monday, Nov. 28 and finish out November at Independence on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
