The Tigers took turns flying to the basket all day, and they pulled away from Skyline for an easy victory in their Blue & Gold Tournament opening-round game, 62-41.
The Tigers stayed aggressive on offense and controlled the tempo for most of the day, jumping on top 17-11 after the first quarter. They led 34-21 at the half, led by Doke, who had nine first-half points.
It was the third quarter that put the game away for Republic. After showing a bit of trapping defense in the first half, the Tigers came out of the halftime break with full-on pressure. It resulted in a series of turnovers that helped them run their lead as high as 24 points at 47-23. They led 51-28 after three quarters and salted the game away in the fourth.
“Playing primarily eight guys, it’s hard to press the entire game, especially on a big floor like this,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “We thought we could take advantage of some of their ball-handling a little bit, and we thought we could mix and match and keep it together, and we did a good job of turning them over.”
Cameron Doke says the message at halftime was to keep the pressure on Skyline.
“Put the heat on them. Don’t let them come back. Don’t let them feel like they can come back and win,” he says.
Doke and Ty Stevens each scored 13 points to lead Republic to its fifth consecutive victory. Many of Doke’s points came after missed shots by his teammates in the first half.
“I’m not really a big scorer, so I just try to get as many rebounds and put-backs as I possibly can,” he says.
Tristan Ollar had 12 points for the Tigers. Treydon Rackley and Tyler Phillips each scored eight. Caleb Singley added six points, and Devon Ward had two.
Republic is now 5-2 after losing its first two games of the season. The Tigers advance in the winners’ bracket of the Blue Division. They’ll play at JQH Arena at 11 a.m. Monday against #4 seed Fair Grove or unseeded Mansfield.