For the second straight year, the No. 21 Neosho County Panthers women saw their season end with a home playoff loss as the Fort Scott Greyhounds upset the Panthers, 72-57, in the first round of the NJCAA Region VI Tournament on Monday night.
Neosho County, which finished tied for runner- up in the KJCCC this winter, had previously beaten Fort Scott twice by a combined 55 points. But the Panthers shot an abysmal 21.2% (18-of-85) from the floor on Monday, allowing Fort Scott to build a lead as high as 26 points.
Fort Scott also outrebounded Neosho County, 61-32.
“They rebounded better than us and they played downhill,” Neosho County head coach J.J. Davis said. “They played hard and when you get out-toughed in playoff games, it’s hard to bounce back.”
Normally taking 42 threes a game and hitting a dozen, the Panthers were limited to 5-of-33 from behind the arc in the loss to the Greyhounds.
“Fort Scott did a really good job of switching everything and running us off the 3-point line,” Davis said. “We didn’t make shots at the rim and a lot of our stuff is based on shot-making. If we make shots, we defend better.”
Neosho County’s high-octane, platoon style has usually lent itself to surges that put opponents at arm’s reach – that swell simply never came on Monday night.
“This was a big moment for a bunch of young players,” Davis said. “We struggled a little bit and those freshmen will have to learn from it.”
Kyleigh Scoggins led Fort Scott with 29 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field while Neosho County was led by Jiyani Thompson’s 16 points.
With the loss, Neosho County ends the season with a 19-8 overall record. The Panthers hit new benchmarks this winter, spending the majority of the season ranked in the NJCAA polls. But a second straight first-round exit is a bitter punctuation.
“We stayed in the top 25 all but one week, but we’ll probably drop now,” Davis said. “This program took a huge step. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year with all those freshmen. But we changed the tide. We don’t know what the (transfer) portal will look like. We don’t know how many will leave and how many will stay. We just have to stay faithful to the process.”
Davis didn’t hide his disappointment in Monday’s result.
“This group worked really hard and you want it to pay off for them,” Davis said. “When it doesn’t, you question yourself. Hopefully, the girls stay bought in and come back. I know how much this community put into us and how much work they put in. But this is two years in a row I’ve let them down. As a leader, that’s what they pay me for — to figure it out.”
Retaining a roster mostly comprised of freshmen will be a priority for the Panthers this offseason as they look to become a contender for a national tournament berth.
“We to keep as many of them as possible,” Davis said. “We proved to ourselves we can win with freshmen. Our system works. I hope we’ll get over the cliff.”
