Republic used full-court pressure defense to break out of the doldrums and fend off scrappy Springfield Central in a 75-57 win Monday at home. Canyon Smith scored 17 points to lead the Tigers. Cody Geiger scored 15 and Dillen Ramsey added 13 for the Tigers, who improved to 18-2.
Republic led 16-11 at the end of the 1st quarter, but actually trailed briefly in the 2nd quarter before they began pressing and forced several turnovers by the Bulldogs, building a 34-21 lead by halftime. Coach Trevyor Fisher wasn’t happy with the way his team played for most of the half.
“The first half they were the aggressors. We were back on our heels. We didn’t play with any desire or energy,” Fisher says. “I just told our guys, you do that consistently, it’s eventually going to catch up to you.”
Fisher kept the press on in the 3rd quarter, as the Tigers outscored Central 23-17 to push the lead to 37-28.
“Just to get the game going a little big quicker and to get our guys engaged a little bit more. We’ve gotten some easy baskets out of it,” Fisher says. “Thank goodness we did, because in the half-court our defense was very poor.”
Dylan Bekemeier contributed nine points to the Tigers offense. Brock Yocum and Jordan Kerr scored eight apiece. Chase Hoffmann added five.
Republic is back in action on the road Tuesday night against Neosho. The Lady Tigers will be at Neosho as well, after their game was postponed Monday night.