Lady Tigers Overcome Shooting Woes to Beat Willard

AliceRepublic overcame a dismal shooting night and pulled away in the 2nd half for a 60-41 win on the road at Willard Monday. Alice Heinzler poured in 27 points as the Lady Tigers ran their record to 21-0.

Republic missed layup after layup in the 1st half, allowing Willard to stay in the game. The Lady Tigers led 16-10 after one quarter, but Willard stayed aggressive on offense and eventually closed the gap to one, at 19-18.

Republic coach Kris Flood says the slow start is a trend that he’s still trying to correct — and one that worries him as Republic heads into a showdown with Ozark Thursday.

“We’ve done this now a few times. Some of the games where, nothing to take away from Willard, but some of those games where we’re able to get away with some things that I don’t think normally we would in other situations…we turn it on and off, I guess,” says Flood. “They think it’s like a switch that they can just turn it on when they need to and go from there. We played a little bit better in the 2nd half.

“If we come out like this on Thursday, it could be a long night.”

MicahThe teams traded buckets until the 3:00 mark of the 2nd quarter, when Republic put together a small run. The Lady Tigers outscored Willard 10-4 in the final three minutes of the half and led 33-26 at the break.

Midway through the 3rd quarter, Republic built its lead to double digits by intensifying the pressure on the defensive end. But Willard clawed back to get within nine heading into the final period, 44-35. In the 4th quarter, Republic finally closed the deal, outscoring Willard 16-6 to win going away.

Alex Botkin had a big night as well, scoring 16 points, including seven in the decisive 4th quarter. Tori Taylor added seven and Sarah Kreul, playing with a mask to protect her broken nose, scored five.

Flood says the mask impedes Kreul’s vision, and it was obvious that it made things more difficult for her.

“She doesn’t have any peripheral vision. It’s tough for her to put the ball on the floor,” he says. “Hopefully she can adjust and get through it. But there’s no doubt in my mind that it affected her.”

The JV team won 67-29. The two victories make the Republic girls basketball teams 82-0 this season from 7th grade through varsity.

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