A fight between top-ranked teams turned out to be as good as expected, as Waynesville (#1 Class 5) squeaked by Republic (#1 Class 4) 58-57 in a thriller at Republic Wednesday night. Republic had a chance to win the game on its final possession, but a rushed three-pointer by Canyon Smith banged off the back iron and sailed away as the buzzer sounded.
Despite playing without Cody Geiger, who sat out most of the game with an injury, Republic dug its way out of a 12-point hole against the bigger Waynesville lineup. The Tigers trailed by 11 entering the 4th quarter and cut the deficit to one point before falling short.
“More than anything, I’m just proud of our guys, the way they battled,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “With your all-state forward going down…and getting down 10, 12 points, whatever it was, a lot of teams could have just folded and said ‘Hey, let’s move on to the next one.’ But they kept battling and fighting against a really good team and guys that are a lot bigger and athletic, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Hot shooting from beyond the three-point arc helped Republic build a lead early. Brock Yocum had two threes in the 1st quarter, and Dylan Bekemeier and Canyon Smith had one apiece. Republic led for the first six minutes of the game until Waynesville ended the quarter with a scoring run to tie the game at 16-16.
Waynesville’s 6’8″ Division One recruiting target Juwan Morgan had a big 1st half, scoring 13 points. He scored the first nine points for Waynesville, and took control with Geiger on the bench.
Waynesville led 31-24 at halftime, and stretched the lead to 12 at one time. They led 46-35 to start the 4th quarter, before Republic mounted a furious comeback led by guard Dylan Bekemeier. Bekemeier scored 10 points in the 4th quarter to finish with a game-high 22.
“He’s that guy who can kind of create shots, either for himself or for other guys,” Fisher says of Bekemeier. “With Cody being out, he had to step up a little bit more and get us into some stuff because they were all over Canyon and Brock, not going to let them get open looks. He played about as well as he’s played all year, and hopefully he can continue to do that.”
Bekemeier’s frequent passing target was Dillen Ramsey, who was left open under the bucket on three consecutive possessions as Republic stormed back. He ended with 14 points.
“That’s what you’ve got to do. When you have a guy go down, the next guy’s got to step up and do something,” says Fisher. “The way (Ramsey) competed and performed in the 2nd half was nice to see, and hopefully he can continue that into Friday and into the post-season.”
Republic cut the lead to two points and had the ball when Dylan Bekemeier was fouled with 12 seconds left. He made one of two free throws, but in the ensuing battle for the rebound, Juwan Morgan overthrew a teammate downcourt to give Republic one final shot. With six seconds left, Bekemeier dribbled up the floor, drawing contact but no foul call. The Tigers got the ball to Smith for the hurried final shot, but he couldn’t connect.
Before the game, the Tigers celebrated Senior Night, honoring the nine seniors on the team. Fisher says that experience paid off when Republic fell behind.
“When you’ve got nine seniors, that helps. They’ve seen just about everything, and didn’t get rattled,” he says.
Waynesville improves to 22-2 this year. Republic is now 21-4.
The nine seniors and the rest of the team will be back on the court Friday at Branson with a chance to win a share of the COC championship. If Republic wins, they’ll pull into a three-way tie with Nixa and Willard, all with one conference loss.
After that, district play begins for Republic next Thursday.
