Republic used a 10-0 run midway through the 2nd quarter to shake off pesky Carl Junction and advance to the state quarterfinals with a 62-42 win. Four Tigers scored in double figures, led by junior Cody Geiger with 15. Thirteen of Geiger’s points came in the 2nd half.
Senior guard Jake Fletcher added 13 points for Republic. Dylan Bekemeier and Marcus Miller had 11 points apiece for Republic, who had beaten Carl Junction by 39 points earlier in the year.
Early in the game, though, the Bulldogs appeared capable of pulling off the upset. After Republic jumped ahead early, Carl Junction clawed back to tie the game at 19 apiece, prompting a timeout from coach Trevyor Fisher.
Marcus Miller was a key presence on the inside during the 1st and 2nd quarters, with big buckets that kept Carl Junction from ever taking the lead.
“Our focus is to get the ball inside because usually good things happen with that,” says Miller. “Our mindset was to play as hard as we can. That’s what coach talked about in the timeout. We need to play with a little more energy and intensity.”
Ramping up the intensity, Republic used two three-pointers by Bekemeier to fuel a 10-0 run and put some distance between themselves and the Bulldogs.
“To start the game, they had us on our heels a little bit with that zone, and got some easy transition points and hit a couple threes,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “But we did a good job of not panicking and kept playing. It was key that we made that little run at the end of the 1st half to get that little cushion.”
The score was 35-23 at halftime, and Carl Junction stayed in the game by outscoring Republic 8-7 in the 3rd quarter. But the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 20-11 in the final eight minutes to put the game away.
The win sets up a quarterfinal showdown with St. Francis Borgia Saturday at 1 p.m. at the O’Reilly Family Event Center on the Drury University Campus. Borgia beat Springfield Hillcrest 47-45 on a buzzer-beater to advance to the quarterfinals. The Knights are 20-8.
