Returning from winter break with a tune-up before KJCCC play, the Neosho County Panthers men routed Ottawa JV, 97-37, on Saturday afternoon.
“We made some adjustments offensively and we were curious to see how we’d do with them,” Neosho County head coach Taylor Shaffer said. “We settled a little too much for threes. But this group does well in space. We have guards that can play downhill and we did a good job with that. And we focused on getting after it defensively.”
Eriq Caraballo and Jayce Cooper each led Neosho County with 15 points apiece on Saturday while Adyn Prophete and Cooper Weeks added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The win improved the Panthers’ record to 9-8 overall — the Panthers went into Christmas with an even .500 mark.
Saturday also marked the return of several starters, including Prophete and Weeks, from injury.
“I like our group a lot,” Shaffer said. “We played three teams in the top 15. On top of that, our last two weeks, we had three starters out with injuries. So we’ve been battling through it. I’m fairly pleased with where we’re at. We’ve got a pretty good group that’s been battle tested. If we can stay healthy, we’ll be pretty good.”
Weeks has been the most dynamic scorer for the Panthers, shooting a team-high 55.3% from the field while averaging 12.7 points per game.
“He’s probably been our best allaround player offensively,” Shaffer said. “He does a lot of things that are hard to guard. If you go small on him, he can abuse you down low. He’s capable of picking and popping and stretching the floor. Against teams that don’t switch, we’ll play through him a lot.”
Getting more efficient offensively was a priority for the Panthers, who rank outside the top 100 in field goal percentage as a squad (43.7%).
“We do well in playing with less structure, so we’re giving the guys more freedom to be basketball players,” Shaffer said.
Up next
Neosho County opens conference play on Wednesday with a trip south to face the Labette Cardinals in Parsons.
“We’ve started on that scout and they do a really good job of making you prepare for multiple looks,” Shaffer said. “They’re long and athletic and get after the offensive glass. They’ve got some pieces. They struggled with injuries, too. So I’m interested to see who they put on the floor.”
