Box Score Off to their best start in conference play in more than 10 years, the Neosho County Panthers stumbled at home Saturday night against the Labette Cardinals. A late run by the Panthers forced the game to overtime, but the Panthers would be held scoreless in the extra period.
 
The Panthers struggled for most of the game against a sagging zone defense by the Cardinals. Neosho County trailed by 5 at the break after shooting just 28% from the field. The Panther defense did is what kept them in the game however as they held Labette to just 32% shooting in the first.
 
The second half it was an uphill struggle for the Panthers to claw back into the game. After trailing by as many as 9 in the first half, Labette would push the lead back to 9 with 12:00 minutes to play.  A 9-0 run by the Panthers over a 6 minute stretch would tie the game up for the first time since the 14:12 mark in the first half.
 
Labette would extend the lead back to 5 with 3:00 minutes before the Panthers once again began to chip away. Trailing by 3 with :11 seconds to go, Dena English would connect on her third three of the game over the hand of the Cardinal defender and force the game to overtime tied at 53.
 
The overtime period would see neither team connect on a field goal as Labette would score the period's only points from the free throw line to win 56-53. For the third game in a row it was Alexis Hafenstein who led the Panthers in scoring with 12 points to go with her 4 assists.
 
The Panthers fall to 7-10 overall and 3-2 in conference play. It will be a quick turnaround as they will play three games in the upcoming week beginning with a trip to Kansas City Kansas Community College on Monday (Jan. 21) night at 5:00 pm.