Last year, the Lady needed just one more win to capture the Central Ozark Conference championship outright for the first time in recent memory, but Branson stopped them.
This year, nothing doing.
In a winner-take-all conference finale between unbeaten teams, the Lady Tigers went on the road and beat the Lady Pirates 50-44. Jordan Kabetske scored 17 points, Brylee Argo scored a huge bucket to give Republic the lead for good with two minutes remaining, and the Lady Tigers hit just enough free throws down the stretch to hold on.
“We lost to last year, which tied it. We weren’t going to tie them or lose to them again,” Kabetske says.
The score went back and forth most of the night. Branson led 14-13 after one quarter, but Republic surged ahead 26-23 at the half. Until the final minute, the biggest lead of the night was five points, when Republic went ahead 33-28 midway through the third quarter. Branson answered with eight straight points of its own to take a three-point lead, then Republic pushed back on top, and led 39-38 heading into the fourth.
“We knew it was going to be a battle, playing down here. Everybody knew what was on the line,” says coach Kris Flood. “They just kind of fight through…and they figure out how to win games.”
Flood says this year’s conference title, which the Lady Tigers don’t have to share with another team, is a special accomplishment.
“This is an outright one. We’ve taken everyone who’s been on the schedule and we’ve come out on top, so that’s another notch in their belts,” he says of the league schedule. “Give all the credit to the kids.”
In addition to Kabetske’s 17 points, Republic got eight each from Taylor Fergen and Jade Sawyer. Brooke Stanfield and Alexis Ladwig had six apiece. Brylee Argo scored four. Logan Flood added one.
Republic has one game remaining in the regular season, Wednesday at Rogersville. The Lady Tigers open district play on February 29th at Joplin against Willard or Joplin.