Neosho County spoiled Jermaine Maybank’s midseason coaching debut with the Labette Cardinals men on Wednesday night as the Panthers won, 86-74, to open KJCCC play.
Labette leapt out to a 12-point lead in the first half, hitting four treys in the first 10 minutes, before the Panthers clawed back.
“The first 10 minutes could not have gone better for Labette and could not have gone worse for us,” Neosho County head coach Taylor Shaffer said. “We didn’t execute the scouting report or do what we were supposed to do defensively. Labette jumped on us and we knew with the adversity they had in the last week, they’d come out with a lot of energy. But I’m really proud of how we stood together. It would be easy to go into a shell. But we always challenge this group. We chipped away and found a way to win.”
Maybank felt the Cardinals retreated when the well went dry from deep.
“We didn’t respond well,” Maybank said. “We went into a turtle shell. We have a whole lot of work to do to sustain a level of play throughout the game. Our conditioning let us down a bit. We have to get back in shape to compete with good teams.”
Jayce Cooper and Cooper Weeks each led Neosho County with 17 points. Cooper added seven boards on 7-of-13 shooting off the bench.
“We’ve always talked to him about his greatest asset being his energy,” Shaffer said. “A lot of his buckets came from playing hard. He has a knack for being in the right place. That’s basketball IQ. Thank God he showed up because nobody else really shot it great tonight.”
Labette and Neosho Count both shot 36% from the field.
“Our defense led to poor offense,” Maybank said. “We had to make adjustments because guys were in foul trouble. We had to go to the bench and that turned the momentum. We have to do better sustaining runs and be ready to compete when they go into the game.”
Mukadi Mukoma led the Cardinals with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor.
“He was really good on the offensive side of the ball,” Maybank said. “We have a lot of work to do on the defensive side. But it was encouraging to see that level of play with him.”
Shaffer said Labette’s system didn’t appear drastically different despite a new head coach taking over just two days before conference play.
“The biggest thing was personnel,” Shaffer said. “We didn’t know what we’d see. In the first semester, Labette changed lineups a lot. (Maybank) did a good job putting his guys in positions to be successful. They played together very well.”
Neosho County ate the glass collectively — Cooper, Weeks and Raziel Taylor each led the Panthers with seven rebounds. Seven of the eight players that appeared for Neosho County had at least five boards.
“This team’s greatest strength is our balance,” Shaffer said. “You look at our stats across the board, it’s balanced. We’re long and we’re athletic. When we decide to, we play pretty hard.”
Neosho County improved to 10-8 overall while Labette dropped to 9-9.
Maybank takes over for Hinson Maybank, who was the assistant for Labette under Jason Hinson last year, was hired to take over the Cardinals and started work on Monday.
Hinson was fired last week by the college.
Maybank, a former K-State player, spent the first semester as an assistant coach at NOC-Enid.
“I was preparing for the No. 22 team in the nation on the Division I side and wasn’t prepared for a call like this,” Maybank said. “But I’m happy I got it. I’m not sure what happened and I’m not sure I want to find out. But I thought it was the right thing for me to do to come back to Labette. I’ve got a lot of love for the staff and community here. I want to lead this program into prominence.”
Maybank said he got support from the NOC-Enid staff to make the midseason move.
“I wanted to be super transparent with everybody,” Maybank said. “They helped me. We were red hot as a team. So I just got a lot of thoughts and opinions from everybody. I knew this was an opportunity, so they gave me a vote of confidence and wished me well. I had their full support.”
Maybank’s first day on campus was Monday, two days prior to Wednesday’s game against Neosho County. He retained assistant coach Ben Vozzola.
“I had to try and find a place to live,” Maybank said. “I found a hidden gem in Parsons so I lucked up. I met with the people here and got aware of what I’m tasked with this season. It’s a unique situation coming in midway. But I’m excited for it.”
Most of the players on Labette’s roster were recruited by a Hinson staff that included Maybank, helping with continuity.
“I didn’t want to rip everything down,” Maybank said. “I want to put the guys in actions that they can be successful. I had 40 hours, so I wanted to give them stuff they could retain on the fly. I’m learning them on the fly as well. It’ll take a lot of work.”
Maybank said he intends to rebuild Labette. This is his first college head coaching job.
“I’m committed to Labette,” Maybank said. “I want to improve this team day-by-day. I haven’t looked at the future. My future is the next game so we can get these guys better and get them to four-year schools. I want to be focused on the guys. So my future is here.”
Up next
Labette hits the road on Saturday to face Allen in KJCCC action.
“I saw them this year (at NOCEnid) and they beat us,” Maybank said. “They’re a very good team that’s coached very well. We’ll have to put our best foot forward. If we defend like we did tonight, we’ll be in trouble. But we’ll get together and see if we can make a run.”
Neosho County hosts Fort Scott. “They have two really good players,” Shaffer said. “They’ve got a fiveman who’s a problem. Fort Scott really gets after the ball.”
