Republic briefly trailed 3-2 in the early moments of its game against Mountain Grove Thursday. But a Will Berry bucket gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished in a 65-33 romp to open the Blue & Gold Tournament. Ten different players scored for Republic, as Tim Brown substituted liberally throughout the game and the Tigers avoided a letdown against an unseeded opponent.
“These (first-round) games are hard … with having Christmas and not necessarily being in your same routine. You see it throughout the day sometimes with the scores,” said coach Tim Brown. “I’m glad that we finally got it going in the first half and got some separation, and we were able to play a lot of guys. Not only where we were able to reward some guys and get them some … valuable experience, but we also were able to rest a lot of our guys too. It’s really important to be able to take care of business in this tournament and rest guys when you can, with the way the format for this tournament is.”
Republic outscored Mountain Grove 16-9 in the first quarter, and six players scored for the Tigers in the first eight minutes of play. Republic caused eight Mountain Grove turnovers in the opening period.
In the second quarter, Republic’s defense was even better, allowing just four points. By the time halftime rolled around, the Tigers led 33-13 and had out-rebounded the Panthers 19-7. Republic held a 30-14 rebounding edge for the game.
Republic built its lead to 52-28 during the third quarter, and Brown was able to rest his starters for the final period.
Drew McMillin led Republic with 14 points. Joe Rexroat added 12 in his return from injury.
Republic improves to 4-3. The fourth-seeded Tigers will meet #5 Fair Grove, where Brown coached before coming to Republic, at 6:30 pm Friday at JQH Arena.
Republic scoring: Drew McMillin 14, Joe Rexroat 12, Race Looney 8, Ahlante Askew 7, Tucker Thomas 7, Trevor Porter 6, Carson Neff 5, Skyler Lock 2, Will Berry 2, Nate Woolford 2
Rebounds: Republic 30, Mountain Grove 14
