Republic rocketed to a 19-3 lead after the first eight minutes at Willard, but needed a strong second half to hold on and pick up a Central Ozark Conference road win, 49-38. Brock Yocum scored ten points in a dominating first quarter for the Orange and Black, and finished with a team-high 19.
“We were the aggressor in the first quarter. We knew they were going to pressure and make it difficult,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “We combated that by attacking and getting the ball to the middle–getting it inside, hitting open shots.”
As good as the first quarter was for Republic, the second quarter was almost as good for Willard. The home team stormed back, closing the gap to three points, 21-18.
“In the second quarter, we got into foul trouble,” Fisher says. “A couple bad things didn’t go our way and we put our head down and panicked and stupid, careless turnovers. More importantly, our defense fell off in the second (quarter). We let them get to the basket a few times and get some offensive rebounds.”
Republic righted the ship after the break, outscoring Willard 11-8 to stretch its lead to six points. In the fourth quarter, Brady McGill scored all nine of his points — including five at the free throw line — to help Republic seal the victory.
Besides Yocum’s 19 points and McGill’s nine, the Tigers got 10 points from Tim Brazeal, who also had three blocked shots in the third quarter. Tristan Ollar scored four, Jace Duvall had three, and Blake Fanning and Travis Sly scored two apiece.
The Tigers improve to 12-11 overall. They’re 4-1, sitting in second place in the Central Ozark Conference with a game against Ozark at home coming up Friday.
