Fueled by the rowdiest home crowd of the year, Republic overcame a slow start to power past Ozark 68-61 on homecoming night. Grant Hancock’s dunk near the end of the 1st quarter gave Republic its first lead, ignited the crowd, and sparked the Tigers the rest of the way.
“We kind of had gotten away from pounding it into the post, and that’s our advantage,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “Our big guys did a great job of being strong. Grant went strong to the basket. Marcus did a great job. Cody, offensive rebounds.
“And our guards stepped up and made some shots, especially in the 1st half…so it was very encouraging all the way around,” Fisher says.
Guard Jake Fletcher led Republic with 19 points, including 10 in a big 2nd quarter that saw Republic extend its lead from 16-15 to 39-29. Fletcher had three three-pointers, all in the first half.
The 3rd quarter was evenly matched until the final minutes, when Ozark hit a couple of three-pointers to cut the lead to single digits. Heading into the 4th quarter, Republic led 51-46.
The opening minute of the 4th quarter was all Ozark needed to even the score. They got two quick steals and converted them to points, and the game was knotted at 51-51 with 7:00 left.
The teams traded buckets for the next four minutes, and Republic held a 58-57 lead with 2:40 left, when the Tigers put together the run that would make the difference. Republic scored after an Ozark turnover, then got another stop. On the next possession, Marcus Miller grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in off the glass, making it a five-point lead. Ty Abney took a charging foul a few minutes later, sank two free throws, and the lead was seven with one minute left, 66-59.
From there, the Tigers played stingy defense against a rushed Ozark squad, hit their free throws, and closed out the conference win.
Dylan Bekemeier had 14 points to go along with Fletcher’s 19. Miller and Hancock scored ten apiece on the inside.
Coach Trevyor Fisher says the team fed off the energy of the crowd.
“Just to look over there and have that whole student section filled all the way to the top row, and just the atmosphere with the crowd, you don’t get any better than that on a high school Friday night,” says Fisher. “As a student athlete, you remember that stuff for your entire life.”
Fisher says the Tigers were coming off two intense days of practice, after suffering back-to-back losses to Nixa and Willard, and that paid off.
“I’m glad we played a good team coming off Tuesday, because we needed to sharpen up and get our edge back. It was a better mindset right from the get-go. Even though (Ozark) got off to a quick lead, I thought we played the right way.”