Brock Yocum and Brady McGill came alive in the fourth quarter, combining for 14 points to lift Republic past upset-minded Reeds Spring 54-41 in the first round of the Blue & Gold Tournament Friday. The fourth-seeded Tigers trailed 26-23 at halftime to the unseeded Wolves, but an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter gave Republic a lead they never relinquished.
“They were more aggressive. played tougher for three quarters, and we feel fortunate just to get out of the game with a win,” says coach Trevyor Fisher.
A full-court press by the Tigers made the difference in the second half. Fisher says the press played a role in getting his team’s energy level up.
“It’s just a matter of us trying to be aggressive, force the tempo a little bit, and we were fortunate enough to get some turnovers and easy looks to kind of get some separation. Give them credit for making another run and getting back within one,” Fisher says. “Fourth quarter, I thought we were a lot more aggressive on both ends of the floor, which led to ultimately winning the game.”
Brady McGill led the Tigers with 13 points. Brock Yocum scored ten and Tim Brazeal added eight. Travis Sly scored five points, Blake Fanning, Jace DuVall, Ty Stevens, and Tristan Ollar had four apiece. Mitchell Coiner scored two.
Fisher says the Tigers will need to improve if they want to continue to advance in the Blue & Gold.
“Bottom line, it just comes down to going out there and playing with energy and effort, and when we don’t do that we’re a very, very average team,” he says. “When we do, we can be a good team. We know that going forward in this tournament, that kind of effort really won’t get it done.
“I think with an inexperienced team, we base our effort on whether shots are going in or not. When shots don’t go in early, we get deflated and we let it carry over to our defensive end,” Fisher says. “For us to get better moving forward, we can’t do that. We have to have the mentality of letting our defense set the tone from the start of the game.”
Republic advances to play #5 seed Hartville in the second round. The Eagles and their quickness could pose matchup problems for the Tigers.
” very good team. If we play like the way we played tonight, there’s no doubt, they’ll embarrass us,” Fisher says. “They’ve got great guards that can penetrate, and they also put multiple shooters on the floor, so it makes it hard for any team to defend them.
“They play smart. They’re well coached. Defensively, they want to press you and get you running 100 miles an hour and making bad decisions. We’ll have to do a good job of taking care of the ball and it will all come down to us guarding on the defensive end.”
