Clever did a lot of the things it needed to do to pull off an upset against its heavily favored neighbor to the north, Republic. But Republic kept its composure and fought off the feisty Blue Jays, finishing with a 20-point victory, 66-46.
For two quarters – the first and the third – Clever played Republic dead even. The teams were tied 13-13 after the first period. And in the third quarter, Clever and Republic scored 15 points apiece.
But in the second and fourth quarters, Republic dominated, outscoring Clever 38-18 over those 16 minutes. Still, it was a hard-fought win for Republic against an opponent that had nothing to lose.
“This is what I thought we would see,” coach Tim Brown said of Clever’s performance after the game. “It’s a proud program that’s had a lot of success. It’s a basketball school and it’s a program that has had success in the postseason and had success in the Blue and Gold (Tournament), and they schedule up to play programs like us for a reason. We knew we were going to get their best shot.”
Drew McMillin scored 24 points, a season high. He has scored more than 20 points in three of Republic’s first four games. Tuesday, he made five three-pointers, including four in the first half.
Race Looney sparked the defense, which forced 19 Clever turnovers, and also contributed 14 points for the Tigers. Tucker Thomas was in double figures as well, with 11.
Clever out-rebounded Republic 18-14 and showed more life at times, especially in the opening minutes.
“I thought they started the game much better than we did,” Brown said of Clever. “That’s kind of disappointing. I thought they were maybe a little bit more excited to play than we were, and that’s something that a mature basketball team that has a championship culture –– we’ve got to be better than that.”
The teams were tied 18-18 early in the second quarter, but Republic closed the half on an 18-5 run to take control at the halftime buzzer. Clever scored the first six points of the second half to cut the lead to seven points, but that was as close as the Blue Jays would get.
Republic improves to 3-1. Clever falls to 4-1.
Unofficial Stats
Republic Scoring: Drew McMillin 24, Race Looney 14, Tucker Thomas 11, Nate Woolford 8, Ahlante Askew 5, Will Berry 4
Turnovers: Republic 9, Clever 19
Rebounds: Republic 14, Clever 18