The Sullivan Eagles scored the first ten points of the 2nd half and held on down the stretch for a 52-49 win over Republic in Sullivan Thursday. Taylor Lucas scored 22 points to lead all scorers for Sullivan.
Republic came out strong against Sullivan’s much bigger lineup, and held the Eagles to just seven points in the 1st quarter. The Lady Tigers were in control for most of the 1st half, and led by as many as nine points, but Sullivan closed the gap to one point, 23-22, at halftime.
The opening of the 3rd quarter ended up being the difference in the game.
“We played fairly well in the 1st half, and I was happy,” says coach Kris Flood. “Then in that 3rd quarter, we just came out and the first four or five possessions were empty. We had turnovers and didn’t score, and they were scoring on theirs, and it kind of put us in a hole.”
Sullivan built a seven-point lead at one time, but the Lady Tigers fought back to take the lead in the final two minutes. Sullivan’s Taylor Lucas, though, made the most of the Eagles’ possessions in crunch time. She had eight of her 22 points in the 4th quarter.
“We’ve been involved in tight games have have come down to the last 1:30, and we’ve hit a couple spots where we haven’t executed,” says Flood.
Thursday’s game paired two of the best teams in Missouri. Republic is ranked #10 in the state in Class 4, and Sullivan is hovering just outside the top ten. The two teams met last year in Republic, while both were ranked in the top three. Republic won that one.
For Republic, Jordan Kabetske was the leading scorer with 14. Michayla Shanks scored ten. Micah Mansker had eight, Brooke Stanfield and Tori Taylor scored six each, Jade Sawyer had four, and Brylee Argo scored one.
The Lady Tigers fall to 11-4. Sullivan is now 11-3.