Nixa took advantage of early foul trouble for Republic’s leading scorer, Broc Smith, and held him in check even when he was on the floor, earning a 55-48 win at Republic Tuesday night. The Eagles held Republic to just three points in the second quarter to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point halftime lead.
Smith went to the bench with more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter after he picked up two quick fouls. For a while, hot-shooting Trent Rackley kept the Tigers in the game, and Republic actually led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter. But Nixa asserted itself in the second quarter, outscoring the Tigers 16-3 to take a 25-17 lead into halftime.
“Those were big calls that kind of just take you out of everything that you’re trying to do for basically an entire half,” coach Trevyor Fisher says. “We responded well with it initially and had a good first quarter, but eventually that will catch up with you. They’d made some adjustments to not let Trent get some shots and that makes it tough, but that’s no excuse, because we’ve got to figure out a way to still be able to execute, and be better on defense.
Even when Smith and Rackley were both on the floor, Republic couldn’t get much going offensively. The Eagles used a triangle-and-two defense, with man-to-man on Smith and Rackley, daring someone else to step up and make plays. Hunter Creek led Republic with 14 points, Smith had 13, and Rackley had 12 — all on three-pointers — but the rest of the offense struggled. The Tigers put up only 14 points combined in the second and third quarters.
“They were taking Broc and Trent away and forcing other guys to step up and make plays. We got the ball in some good areas at times; we just couldn’t finish inside and missed some open looks from the perimeter,” Fisher says.
Even the Republic defense was not as good as it had been most of the year, giving up 55 points and failing to keep the Tigers close when shots weren’t falling.
“I thought our defense let us down when we weren’t making shots,” Fisher says. “We couldn’t string stops together until it was late there, in the fourth quarter, and we had to press and speed them up. just not an overall real great effort on both ends of the floor.”
Senior Drew Canady led Nixa with 19 points. Nathan Elmer, also a senior, had 15.
Republic falls to 17-5 overall, and 5-1 in the COC. Nixa is now 16-8.
The Tigers return to action Friday night at Willard in the nightcap of a girls-boys varsity double-header. Republic Tiger Sports will broadcast both those games, starting around 6:15 with the girls.
Individual Scoring (Unofficial)
Hunter Creek 14, Broc Smith 13, Trent Rackley 12, Tucker Thomas 5, Drew McMillin 3, Race Looney 1