The Republic Lady Tigers started fast, finished fast, and didn’t slow down in-between. They blew out Marshfield to capture the district title, 67-50.
The Lady Tigers’ inside game was too much for an outsize Marshfield team, which started five guards. Alexis Edwards scored 24 points and Sarah Kreul added 14, including 12 in the 1st half.
The other star of the game was the Republic crowd. The Lady Tigers’ cheering section was almost as big as the home Marshfield crowd, and a lot noisier, with a lot more to cheer about.
Continuing their recent trend, Republic used full-court pressure to jump out to a big early lead. It was 12-1 about midway through the first period, and 17-8 after one quarter. The lead was 32-20 at halftime.
With the Marshfield defense concentrating on Kreul, after she scored 12 in the first half, Edwards got hot in the 3rd quarter. She scored most of her points in the 2nd half, as the Lady Tigers built their lead to 20 points at one time.
The win improves Republic’s record to 21-6. It sets up a sectional-round playoff game next Wednesday night in Joplin against McDonald County or Monett.
