Shooting 25% from the field, the Neosho County Panthers’ offensive woes hampered them in a 73-60 loss to the Fort Scott Greyhounds on Saturday in KJCCC men’s hoops action.
“They did a really good job with their ball pressure,” Neosho County head coach Taylor Shaffer said. “They got after our guards and we allowed their pressure to take us out of what we were trying to do. It took us 30 minutes to get settled in. Once we started moving the ball, our shooting percentage went up.”
Neosho County connected on 19 of its 75 shots from the field, including 5-of-23 from deep.
“Fort Scott forced us to put the ball on the floor and then they collapsed really well,” Shaffer said. “But we have to start making shots. I know we’ll have better games.”
Champ Powaukee led the Panthers with 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting with five boards to his credit.
“He did a good job, especially in the second half,” Shaffer said. “It took a while for everybody to get settled in. He had a good game and was good at being aggressive and getting downhill.”
Eriq Caraballo (12) and Raziel Taylor (11) also reached double figures for the Panthers.
Fort Scott’s Noah Porter dropped 20 points while Jaydn Hollis added 17. The Greyhounds shot 46% from the field.
Fort Scott led wire-to-wire in Saturday’s tilt, taking a lead as large as 19 points early in the second half. The Panthers trimmed the deficit to as little as six points before the comeback effort fizzled.
Neosho County dropped to 10-9 overall and 1-1 in KJCCC play.
“We’re right there,” Shaffer said. “We’re talented. We just have to stop burying ourselves in 12-to-15 point holes. There’s going to be a logjam in the middle of the conference and we’ll be right there. We have two straight games where I’m proud of our effort on defense. We just have to be more efficient.”
Up next
Neosho County faces Allen in Iola on Saturday in KJCCC play.
“Allen is really talented and they have six or seven guards that can really go,” Shaffer said. “A big piece will be to not let them get going. We have to guard our assignments and handle pressure.”
