Rogersville never trailed in a 46-33 win at Republic in the finale of the regular season for the Lady Tigers. Republic had opportunities, especially in the third quarter when its full-court pressure gave Rogersville fits, but the Lady Tigers couldn’t make enough shots to draw even.
“I thought the effort at times was very good, especially on the offensive boards,” said coach Kris Flood. “And we made a little push during the third quarter. We were playing with a lot of energy. I don’t think we had that at the beginning of the game, but I feel like we missed probably 20-26 points underneath the basket on layups, and a lot of them were uncontested shots.”
Rogersville led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter, but Republic got two three-pointers from Clara Fronabarger to cut the lead to two points at 16-14. Rogersville answered with a run of its own, closing out the half with a 27-18 lead.
In the third quarter, Republic’s full-court pressure caused several turnovers, but the Lady Tigers missed at least a half-dozen close-range shots that would have helped them climb back into the game. They scored the first six points of the half to cut the lead to five, then closed the margin to four points on another three-pointer by Fronabarger to end the third quarter. But four points is as close as Republic would get, as missed shots continued to plague the Lady Tigers.
“We were making the push and we were getting some stops and getting some chances there,” said Flood, “and we just missed an opportunity. I’d have been curious what would have happened if we had gotten the lead.”
Rogersville outscored Republic 9-3 down the stretch to seal the win.
Flood says it gives his team a chance to re-focus heading into district play next week after running through conference play undefeated.
“It shows that we’re very beatable. But if we’re going to have one like that, I’d just as soon it be … a non-conference game and not in that first round of districts.”
Republic finishes the regular season at 18-8. Rogersville is 19-7.
The Lady Tigers open district play Monday against Joplin or Carthage. All district games will be played in Republic.
Scoring
Clara Fronabarger 16, Halli Bartelsmeyer 8, Jade Kirby 4, Savana Powell-Goodman 2, Anna Bell 2, Shealyn Barrett 1
Farr Better Player of the Game
Republic struggled with its shooting most of the night, but when the Lady Tigers were hitting shots, Clara Fronabarger played a big role in it. Fronabarger led all scorers with 16 points, and she was our Farr Better Player of the Game.
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