Alice Heinzler exploded for 33 points as the Republic Lady Tigers dominated Kickapoo on the road, 64-36. (See photo set below.)
“It’s about time I actually hit something,” says Heinzler, who’s been hot-and-cold with her outside shooting this season. “Some nights it’s like ‘bang,’ and other nights it’s not. Tonight I was just really fortunate and I was a little more confident in my shooting.”
The Lady Tigers led 14-8 after one quarter, and 35-22 at halftime. But a big 3rd quarter put the game away for good, as Republic outscored Kickapoo 22-8 and took a 57-30 lead into the final period.
Republic’s defense forced 22 Kickapoo turnovers.
“We were trying to mix it up between our man and our little box press, and I think that might have confused them a little bit,” says coach Kris Flood.
“Second half, we got out and guarded in the half court,” he says. “I told them not to take their foot off the gas, and that group didn’t, and it created a lot of easy baskets.”
Heinzler says the full-court pressure, and all the turnovers it forced, helped fuel her offensive output.
“It pumps everyone up and we feed off that. Those easy buckets kept coming off those steals,” she says.
Besides Heinzler’s 33, Sarah Kreul added nine points for the Lady Tigers and Lindsey Carlson had eight.
Republic improves to 5-0. The JV and freshmen teams also won, staying undefeated on the season.