Through the first three quarters, Republic played dead-even with state-ranked Hillcrest in their district semifinal matchup Thursday. But Hillcrest’s physical style, and Republic’s inability to score inside, helped the Hornets pull away down the stretch for a 43-33 victory.
After the game opened with a dunk by Dorial Green-Beckham, Republic coach Gary Stanfield called an immediate timeout to settle his team down. Republic responded with tough defense, and took their first lead at 5-4. Hillcrest scored five straight point again, but Republic answered with five of its own, and led 10-9 after one quarter.
The grinding, physical style continued in the second quarter. Nick Yocum scored seven points in the quarter, including a steal and a layup at the buzzer, to give Republic a 21-20 lead at the half.
Hillcrest outscored Republic 11-10 in the 3rd quarter, and the game was tied at 31 going into the final period. But harassed by Hillcrest’s punishing style of defense, the Tigers scored only two points in the final period, ending their season.
Nick Yocum scored 21 points for the Tigers. Jonathan Combs had 6, Brody Thompson had 3, Ryan Mathis had 2, and Jake Fletcher scored 1.
Dorial Green-Beckham scored 19 points to lead the Hornets.
Republic ends its season at 15-10. Hillcrest improves to 18-3.
