The Lady Tigers made 13 three-pointers, tying a school record, in a 59-45 win over Carl Junction at home Thursday. Jade Kirby had six of the team’s bombs, finishing with 24 points.
Republic took a few minutes to find its rhythm against Carl Junction’s 2-3 zone defense, but when the Lady Tigers got untracked, they lit up the scoreboard in a hurry. Kirby, Clara Fronabarger, and Halli Bartelsmeyer each had three-pointers in the first quarter, which ended with an 11-8 Republic lead.
In the second quarter, Kirby and Fronabarger added one more trey apiece, and Bartelsmeyer made two. By the time halftime arrived, the Lady Tigers had stretched their lead to 27-17.
Carl Junction relied almost exclusively on 6’2″ junior Katie Scott for offense. Scott led all scorers with 26 points, including 19 in the second half to keep the Lady Bulldogs in the game until the final minutes. She scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
But while Scott was putting the ball in the bucket for Carl Junction, the Lady Tigers stayed red hot at the other end of the floor. Kirby made two more threes, and Fronabarger and Bartelsmeyer had one more each. The Lady Tigers outscored Carl Junction 19-14 in the third quarter, and led 46-31 heading into the final period.
Carl Junction coach Brad Shorter extended his team’s defensive pressure the full length of the court, which led to several turnovers and allowed the Lady Bulldogs to cut the lead to 47-40, but it never got closer than that the rest of the way.
The Lady Tigers tied the school record of 13 three-pointers in a game, set in Neosho in 2016. You can read about that game here. Alexis Ladwig, Jordan Kabetske, Brylee Argo, Taylor Fergen, Logan Flood, Jade Sawyer, and Madi Appleberry all had three-pointers that night.
Republic improves to 8-5 overall, 2-0 in the Central Ozark Conference.
Scoring
Jade Kirby 24, Clara Fronabarger 15, Halli Bartelsmeyer 14, Anna Bell 4, Jazzy Kirby 2
