Republic doesn’t have to worry about going into the Blue & Gold Tournament without momentum. The Tigers demolished Springfield Central 64-29 Tuesday night in their final game before Christmas. Drew McMillin led Republic with 25 points, including seven three-pointers––just one short of the school record.
McMillin and Broc Smith got the Tigers off to a fast start, beginning with McMillin’s first trey of the night. Smith followed that up with a steal and a two-handed dunk to ignite the student cheering section and set the tone for the rest of the evening.
For most of the first half, the only problem with the Tigers’ offense was that they were too wide open. Springfield Central elected not to contest perimeter jumpers, and the Tigers had a hard time adjusting.
“I think we had guys on our team that were more open than they’ve ever been in their careers and um, I think they got to thinking about it a little bit,” says coach Tim Brown. “Once we settled down and focused on the defensive end and realized that we were going to be open and we had to be tough enough to make it, I thought our kids responded well.”
McMillin and Smith combined for eight three-pointers in the first half, as Republic built a 35-21 lead. The Tigers outscored Central 24-8 in the third quarter to put the game away, and Republic shut out the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter.
In addition to McMillin’s 25, the Tigers got double-figure scoring from Smith, with 13.
Republic made 13 three-pointers in all, just a week after Helias dropped 16 on the Tigers. There’s no school record listed for team three-pointers in a game, but a search of the Republic Tiger Sports story archive indicates that no boys team has made that many threes in a game since at least 2009. McMillin had seven, Smith had three, and Trent Rackley, Tucker Thomas, and Will Berry had one each.
Republic goes into the Blue & Gold Tournament with a 6-2 record. The Tigers play Skyline on December 26 at 9:30 pm at JQH Arena.
Scoring
Drew McMillin 25, Broc Smith 13, Tucker Thomas 8, Race Looney 8, Trent Rackley 3, Will Berry 3, Joe Rexroat 2, Jaden Duvall 2,