Midway through the 2nd quarter, Crane looked like it would give the top-seeded Republic Lady Tigers all they wanted. But Republic’s full-court pressure started to pay dividends at the end of the first half, and Republic eventually pulled away for a 69-49 win.
Crane trailed 21-15 after a fast-paced first quarter featuring good shooting by both teams. When the Lady Pirates closed the gap to 21-20, Republic coach Kris Flood called a time out and the Lady Tigers asserted control.
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Republic pushed its lead to 42-29 at halftime, fueled by consecutive steals forced by their full-court pressure.
“We were fortunate enough to create some turnovers and convert,” says Flood. “We had a feeling this could be a game of runs like that.”
Sarah Kreul had a dominant first half inside, scoring 15 points to lead Republic. Alice Heinzler added 14 in the half to help shoulder the load from the outside.
Heinzler finished with 23 and Kreul had 21. Alex Botkin added 10 for Republic.
The 3rd quarter turned the tide in favor of the Lady Tigers. Republic outscored Crane 13-6 as its defense continued to make a difference.
“We did what we wanted to do,” says Flood. “We set a goal to hold them to single digits, so the girls did a good job of that. We got some critical rebounds. They were one-and-out, and we were able to go down and convert.”
Republic advances to the semifinals of the Pink & White Lady Classic at 7 p.m. Friday. They meet the winner of the Marionville/Nixa game.