Box Score The Neosho County Panthers hosted the Independence Pirates to open Jayhawk Conference play Saturday (Jan. 5) night. The Panthers were coming off a pair of wins in the Sonic Shootout earlier in the week, while it would be the Pirates first game in nearly a month following Christmas break.
 
For the first 15 minutes of the game the neither team could pull away as the largest lead either team could muster was 5 points. Jamie Batish knocked down a three to tie the game at 31 with 5:16 to go in the first half. At this point things began to unravel for the Panthers as Independence closed the half on a 17-5 run to take a 12 point lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The second half saw the Panthers begin to slowly chip away at the Pirate lead as Jamie Batish connected to tie the game at 58 with 11:00 minutes to go. The two teams traded baskets for the next 6 minutes before a 3 from Independence's Julian Edmonson put them on top 74-73. Much like in the first half, the final 5 minutes would be a nightmare for the Panthers as the Pirates closed the half on a 20-6 run to put the Panthers away.
 
For the second game in a row Jamie Batish led the Panthers in scoring as he finished the night with 26 points including 6-11 from three. Batish scored 18 of his 26 points after the break for the Panthers. Three other people joined Batish in double figures as Jeremy Nolen finished with 17, Jake Stoppel had 13 to go with 6 assists and Mark Gray finished with 10. TraVaughn White led Independence with 31 points while Julian Edmonson finished with 17.
 
The Panthers fall to 7-6 on the year and 0-1 in Jayhawk Conference play. They will be back in action Saturday (Jan. 9) when they travel to Fort Scott Community College. The Greyhounds are currently 6-7 overall and 2-2 in Jayhawk Conference play. Game time for the conference matchup will be around 7:30 following the women's game.