A half-century ago, the Republic Tigers went to Brewer Field House in Columbia and came home with a Class M state basketball championship. Saturday, the Tigers will be back on the big stage in Columbia — this time at Mizzou Arena — when they play Normandy for a Class 4 state championship.
Throughout this season, the current Tigers have had plenty of opportunity to hear about the exploits of the 1963 team. The state champs were honored at multiple reunions, including the Blue & Gold championship game in December.
After winning the state semifinal game against Liberty North Thursday, some of this year’s Tigers talked about what the 50-year anniversary means to their current season.
“We met all those players…a couple of times throughout the season,” says senior Grant Hancock, who’s the only Tiger in history to play in two final fours. “They keep telling us to soak everything in and just be in the moment, and we’re trying to do that. To do that 50 years after they won, that would be crazy.
“They were all smiles. They love watching the game, watching us play.”
Fellow senior Marcus Miller says he’d love to follow in the ’63 team’s footsteps.
“It’s every senior’s dream to win state their senior year, and hopefully we can repeat. That would be great,” Miller says.
Republic coach Trevyor Fisher says aside from winning a state championship, he’s impressed by something else that 1963 team accomplished.
“When they’ve talked to our team, they’ve talked about the relationships that they’ve built, not only in high school, but how they’ve kind of stayed in touch 50 years later. We have such a great group of kids that are great friends, and I know that 50 years from now they’re going to be doing the same thing, so it’s pretty cool.”
Republic will attempt to win its second state title, when the Tigers meet Normandy at 3 p.m. Saturday. I’ll have live play-by-play of the game, and photos, video highlights, and a game recap afterward.
