Panthers escape with 81-80 comeback win
 
Brian McDowell
Sports Editor

As they've done for much of this season, the NCCC Panthers got off to a slow start in their Saturday night contest with the Johnson County Cavaliers. However, the Panthers fought their way back in the second half and were able to come away with a thrilling 81-80 victory.

Johnson County leapt out to a 10-point lead early in the game.

Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs admitted he was starting to become annoyed with his team's habit of starting out so slowly in these games.

“I don't know why we continue to do that,” Coombs said, “but the guys responded well.”

Despite offensive struggles in the first few minutes, the Panthers got some buckets going. They eventually fought their way back to within three points. Then, Johnson County went on a small run with a minute left in the half and led by nine at halftime.

In the game's second half, the Panthers continued to fight to fix the damage done by the Cavaliers' early offensive rampage. A scoring surge by Chris Patton helped put the Panthers within four points. A one handed layup by Raymond Jeter, coming off an intercepted pass, helped keep the Panthers within that span. Brison White followed this up by stealing the ball from a Johnson County player, and unleashing a one-handed dunk that brought the Panthers within two points of the lead.

At one point in the second, things got so heated that Coombs ended up getting a technical foul from the referees. He felt the officiating was inconsistent. He said one of Johnson County's players kept hooking the Panthers. Coombs said that, right after he got the technical, the refs did start to make this call. He also cites this at the point in which his team started cranking it up on the defensive end.

“That's really where I saw the game break away and go towards our direction,” Coombs said, “and I think that just goes to hard work. If we work hard, things pay off.”

Neosho County then stripped the ball and Raymond Jeter drew a foul. He made two free throws that tied the game at 66 with less than five minutes left. From this point on, the game stayed close-knit. With three minutes left, White grabbed a loose ball and gave the Panthers a one-point lead with another powerful dunk.

The Panthers blew some late-game opportunities, missing some free throws, but stayed within a point until White tripped up Johnson County's Jones, who sank two free throws to give the Cavaliers a three-point lead with 25 seconds to go.

This was quickly followed by Jeter drawing a foul under the Panthers' basket and successfully shooting two free throws, which, again, pulled the Panthers within one. With Johnson County driving the ball, the Panthers chose to foul, and the visitors made both of the free throws. NCCC's Thomas Drew answered by quickly tying the score at 80 with a successful three-point shot, the only three-pointer the Panthers got during the whole game.

“We needed a three-point shot, so we've got to go to him,” Coombs said. “He can really shoot the ball. We ran him across three screens to the baseline, and he was wide open and hit it. He did a great job, he did his role. I knew when it left his hand, it was going in. He's just one of those kids that has a beautiful shot and everything looked right.”

Then Patton was quickly fouled, and made a free throw, but missed the second one. The Cavaliers quickly grabbed the ball, brought it downcourt, but missed a last-second layup, allowing Neosho County to escape with a one-point victory.

According to Coombs, not much in this game went the Panthers way until the very end. He said even though they were behind for more of this game than they weren't, there was never a point in which Panthers players felt defeated.

“I could see it in their eyes, and they talked about it in the huddle,” Coombs said. “'We're not losing this game. We're not losing this game.'”

Patton played a big role in the victory, coming off the bench to lead the Panthers with 27 points. Jeter scored 14. Tyler Hickert and White each had 10, while Gregoryshon Magee dished seven.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m. the Panthers will be on the road against Kansas City, Kan. Coombs describes KCK as a great team with big players and guards who can shoot the ball.

School will be back in session by this point, and Coombs is expecting the school's student body to be out in full force, making it “hostile territory” for the Panthers.

“It will be a crazy atmosphere for us, and we're going to have to be mentally prepared,” Coombs said. “We can't do this 'come from behind' thing on the road. We've got to start playing from up front.”