Marcus Miller missed one close-range shot on Republic’s final possession, but he wasn’t about to let it happen twice. Miller grabbed the deflected ball out of the air and put it into the basket with 4.8 seconds left to give the Tigers a 39-38 win over Liberty North in the state semifinals. The Tigers advance to meet Normandy in the state championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
For Miller, who ended the game with 10 points, it was the first game-winning shot he remembers making. After missing the first one, he says he wasn’t about to give up.
“We crash the offensive boards. We work on rebounding every day in practice,” says Miller. “So I knew we would have people down in there trying to tip the ball, at least keep it alive for some hope.”
After Miller’s basket, the Tigers needed one more defensive stand to seal the deal. They forced an errant pass and a wild 25-foot jumper at the buzzer fell short for the Eagles.
The game played out much like the quarterfinals against Borgia, with Republic grabbing a 1st-half lead. They were up 25-19 at halftime. But the 3rd quarter belonged to the Eagles. They outscored Republic 17-7 to jump ahead 36-32 heading into the 4th quarter.
But the defense for Republic, so strong all year, was at its best when it counted. The Tigers allowed only two points in the final eight minutes, and when Miller’s layup went in, it ended a 7-2 run down the stretch.
“Coach has preached to us all year, you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low,” says Grant Hancock, who also scored 10. “You just try to execute and that takes care of it.”
The state championship game will be a study in contrasts. Normandy plays a wide-open style without much structure in its offense. Coach Trevyor Fisher says that won’t affect what his team tries to accomplish.
“We’re just going to try to play our brand of basketball,” says Fisher. “We know who we are. We’ve got two big guys, plus Cody, to throw the ball inside to. So that’s our strength and our guards recognize that.
“Obviously they’re going to try to speed the game up and get it going up and down. I think our guards are capable of playing that style, but we’ll still have our same game plan of trying to attack inside first.”