Patton continues dominance; leads Panthers to win over Ft. Scott
By: Andrew Towne
 
Sophomore Chris Patton continued his mid-season surge, recording his second straight double-double for the Panthers, as they defeated the Greyhounds from Fort Scott Community College 89-68 in Chanute on Saturday night.

Head Coach Jeremy Coombs praised Patton following the game: “Patton had a double digit rebounding night, which is great.  He also had another double-double night which was nice.”

Patton, last week's KJCCC Region VI player of the week, scored 21 points, came down with 10 boards, and had one shot block in the game.  The game against Fort Scott was also Patton's fourth straight game with 20 or more points.

The Panthers led from the start and surrendered the lead only once over the course of the 40 minutes.  That moment came at the 13:08 mark in the first half, when the Greyhounds took a brief 13-12 lead.  The Panthers would regain the lead the very next possession and would go on a 12-2 run over the next two minutes to extend their lead to nine.

“I saw a lot of enthusiasm from our guys,” stated Coombs.  “We were on the edge of our seats cheering each other on.  I was real excited to see that happen.”

The closest Fort Scott would get for the remainder of the game came with 2:08 left in the first half following a technical foul on Brett Jones, cutting the Neosho County lead down to four.

Fort Scott shot 58.6% from the field in the first half.

“We have really challenged the guys defensively,” said Coombs.  “The first half we did not meet our goals, but in the second half we did.”

With the Panthers taking a 45-39 lead into the locker room at half, they opened the second half on an 11-2 run, taking their lead to 15.
Neosho County, shooting a blazing 62.1% in the second half and 54.5% for the game, would continue to extend the lead to as many as 25 points, with just under a minute to go in the game.

As the final buzzer blew on the game, the Panthers found themselves on top 89-68.

The Panthers were lead in scoring by Chris Patton with 21, Thomas Drew and Slim Magee had 15, and Brison White added 14.  Magee also had five shot blocks in the game.

“It was one of those games where we needed it to bounce back from the loss at KCK,” said Coombs.

For the game the Panthers only committed only 8 turnovers.  “The turnovers are right where I want it.  We want to keep it under 10 and they did a nice job of taking care of the basketball tonight,” explained Coombs.  “One of the things we preach is if we do not have the basketball you cannot score”.

Up next for the Neosho County Panthers, they hit the road to take on Highland Community College in Highland, KS on Wednesday night at 7pm.

“Highland is a good team, a tough team that shoots the ball well.  We are going to have to guard them,” said Coach Coombs.  “We will have to play smart.  We can't turn the ball over like we did at KCK.”

FSCC   - 39     29 - 68
NCCC  - 45     44 - 89

Fort Scott -
Green 4, Mills 19, McGilveary 9, Danner 11, Fields 8, Walton 7, Thomas 10
Neosho County -
Sipple 3, Jones 2, Magee 15, Patton 21, Hickert 4, Jeter 6, Smith 3, White 14, Clark 1, Drew 15, Buchanan 0, Newton 5