It took nearly three quarters, but Republic finally played like a favorite in an opening-round win over Skyline at the Blue & Gold Tournament Wednesday. Republic and Skyline were tied 34-34 at the end of three quarters, but Republic scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter on the way to a 55-39 victory. Republic outscored Skyline 21-5 in the final eight minutes.
Momentum began to swing late in the third quarter, with Republic trailing by four points and about two minutes left on the clock. Race Looney hit a shot in the lane and Republic forced a turnover on defense. Tucker Thomas followed that up with a jumper in the lane to tie the score.
“We’ve got to do a better job of starting games,” says coach Tim Brown. “I think if you look at our fourth quarters this year, we’ve played really good fourth quarters. good that we decide to play at least one quarter out of the deal.”
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Republic took control. Broc Smith hit a jump shot in the lane, Tucker Thomas drove to the bucket and made a reverse layup, and after Race Looney took a charge, Trent Rackley made two straight shots––a two pointer and a three-pointer––to give Republic a cushion.
Brown says his Tigers stepped up their defense in the final minutes, and that’s what made the difference in the game.
“Defensively we tighten things up in the fourth quarter and that’s where it all starts. And then we cut harder and our attention to detail’s a lot better on the offensive end… Our cuts are harder, our passes are better, our shot selection’s better.”
For the first three quarters, a young Skyline team looked capable of pulling an upset. Its first possession of the game set the tone for what was coming. Republic played solid defense for about two minutes and nearly forced a turnover several times. But Skyline’s possession ended with an off-balance three-pointer going through the hoop, and the underdogs were off and running.
“Give skyline credit. They were everything we knew they were going to be. very skilled group that’s going to do a lot of special things over the next few years with the youth that they have,” Brown says.
The Tigers advance to play Mansfield in the second round. The Lions beat Reeds Spring in their opener, 80-50. They’ll play Thursday at 9:30 at JQH Arena.
“We’re still searching for that game where we’ve played four full quarters,” Brown says. “This would be a good week to start.”
Scoring
Drew McMillin 17, Tucker Thomas 13, Race Looney 11, Broc Smith 9, Trent Rackley 5