Down by seven points late in the fourth quarter, Republic scored 11 of the next 12 points to come from behind and beat Springfield Central 50-49 in the opening round of the Stephanie Phillips Classic at Springfield Catholic High School Thursday.
The Lady Tigers scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. Sixteen of them came from seniors Avylina Powell-Qualo and Halli Bartelsmeyer.
Republic had capitalized on pressure defense in the half court during the first quarter to build an early lead. The Lady Tigers led 17-6 after about six minutes of play. But they went ice cold in the second and third periods, allowing Central to climb back into the game. The Lady Bulldogs took their first lead at 24-22 with just under a minute left in the half. The teams were tied at 24 apiece at halftime.
Neither team accomplished much offensively in the third quarter, and Central entered the final quarter leading 35-33. The Lady Bulldogs scored four straight to stretch their lead to six points, and eventually pulled ahead by seven, at 46-39. That’s when Republic picked up the pressure again defensively and got more aggressive on the offensive end.
Powell-Qualo, being guarded by 6’1” Sakirah Jones, began taking advantage of her quickness advantage inside, driving to the bucket and making shots or getting fouled.
Bartelsmeyer scored consecutive baskets to cut Central’s lead to 46-43, and after a Central free throw, Powell-Qualo scored again. A Delaney Smith free throw cut the lead to one point, and Powell-Qualo’s next points gave Republic the lead again. After another stop, Bartelsmeyer hit two more free throws to make it 50-47. Central missed a three-pointer at the other end and scored on a two-point put-back as time expired.
“We made some adjustments there in the second half––we got Avalina isolated in the middle with the Jones kid, then in foul trouble, we were able to take advantage of that and hit some key free throws when we needed it,” says coach Kris Flood. “It’s a big sigh of relief … to finally get get in our pocket. Hopefully it will get us going in the right direction.”
Republic improves to 1-2. The Lady Tigers play Springfield Catholic in the semifinals of their bracket tomorrow at 4 pm.
Scoring
Halli Bartelsmeyer 17, Avylina Powell-Qualo 16, Clara Fronabarger 6, Jade Kirby 4, Anna Bell 3, Jazzy Kirby 2, Shaelyn Barrett 1, Delaney Smith 1