Box Score The No. 1 ranked Johnson County Cavaliers beat Neosho County by 34 on January 26^th in Chanute. Saturday afternoon's game would be a much different story.  The game featured six ties and 8 lead changes, but the Cavaliers were able to overcome a determined Neosho County squad to win 51-45.
 
Head Coach Kelley Newton felt great about the Panthers game plan after having nearly a week to prepare for the Cavaliers. Neosho County played with a very methodical approach to try and slow down the high scoring Cavaliers. The Panthers would routinely run their offense until the shot clock was under 10 seconds before looking to take a shot.
 
The approach worked perfectly and the Panthers held the Cavaliers to only 22 first half points. A late run by Johnson County gave them a 6 point lead heading into the break which was their largest lead of the game.
 
Johnson would extend the lead to as many as nine points early in the second half before the Panthers began to slowly chip away. The Panthers would claw their way back in to tie it up multiple times but they were unable to get over the hump until a layup from Shanice Palmer gave them a 37-35 lead with 8:37 to go.
 
After Johnson regained the lead the teams would go back and forth. A jumper from Alexis Hafenstein put the Panthers up 45-44 with 3:09 to play. Johnson would score the final 6 points of the game to escape the Panthers upset bid and secure their second Jayhawk East title in as many years.
 
Alexis Hafenstein was the lone Panther to score in double figures as she finished with 10 points to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Ashley Grant added 8 points and 5 rebounds while Katie Gorman pulled down a team high 7 rebounds.
 
The Panthers fall to 10-18 overall and 6-10 in conference play with the loss. With Allen Community College's win Wednesday (Feb. 20) over Kansas City Kansas Community College the Panthers now trail Allen by 1 game for fourth place in the Region VI standings. The Panthers will need a win over either Cowley or Highland to end the season and secure a first round home playoff game.
 
The next action for the Panthers will be a makeup game at Cowley College Monday (Feb. 25). The games were originally scheduled to be played at 5 and 7 but have been moved up to 2 and 4 with incoming winter weather.