Republic Coach Tim Brown has worried all year about his team’s tendency to start games slowly. That wasn’t a problem Thursday night against Mansfield, but a weak finish almost cost the Tigers the game. It took a Broc Smith free throw in the final five seconds to squeak out a 37-36 win over the Lions in the Blue & Gold quarterfinals.
The Tigers dominated the first half, outscoring Mansfield 17-4 in the first quarter. Republic led 26-11 at halftime. But the Tigers scored just four points in the fourth quarter, as Mansfield cut the lead to 30-26. The Lions eventually tied the game 36-36 in the final minute before Smith’s free throw helped Republic escape an upset bid for the second straight night.
“Give them credit. They made plays in the second half,” Brown said of Mansfield. “Our game plan worked really well in the first half. When you game plan like that, you hope it goes the way that you plan, and sometimes you plan for it and it doesn’t go that way. I thought the second half, they made adjustments.”
Those adjustments led to a big second half for 6’9″ Mansfield senior Dylan Caruso. He scored ten of his game-high 19 points to help the Lions climb back into the game. Senior Payton Watterson also headed up in the second half, scoring 10 of his 12 points after the midway point.
Despite the rough finish, Brown said he was pleased with the mental toughness his team showed.
“We battled through adversity to go through a situation where you blow a 15-point lead and step up and make a play at the end of the game,” Brown said. “And I thought our kids executed really well. We ran clock for a minute and a half and didn’t give them a chance to set up their defense. We executed great, got it where we wanted and they had to foul us or Broc makes a layup.”
Smith led Republic with 11 points. Race Looney also scored in double figures with ten.
The Tigers advance to the semifinals, where they’ll play Ozark at 8:30 Friday night. Ozark beat Stockton 57-44 in their quarterfinal game. Republic is now 8-2.
Tomorrow’s semifinal game will be streamed live on Republic Tiger Sports.
Scoring
Broc Smith 11, Race Looney 10, Tucker Thomas 8, Drew McMillin 7, Trent Rackley 1