Republic scored just 22 points in the first three quarters of Friday night’s game against Olathe East. But they turned it on and scored 23 points in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind, 45-37 win at the Nixa Invitational Tournament. The Lady Tigers overcame an eight-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, outscoring Olathe East by 16 points over the final seven minutes to get the win.
“It was a heck of a win. That’s a good team,” said coach Kris Flood. “That’s a very nice team that we just played. We’ll take it any way it happened.”
Kaemyn Bekemeier led the charge for Republic, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter. She started to swing the momentum with a driving layup after Olathe East scored to take a 30-22 lead in the opening moments of the final period.
Jade Kirby added two field goals during Republic’s fourth-quarter flurry, including a three-pointer that pulled Republic even after Olathe East had buried a trey at the other end of the floor.
Republic had started strong, leading 12-7 after the first quarter. But a disastrous second period left the Lady Tigers in a big hole by halftime. Republic didn’t score for nearly the first six minutes of the quarter as Olathe East used a 10-0 run to take a 17-12 lead. Republic trailed 20-16 at the midway point.
“We finally made some shots and got some baskets and got it back to where we got an opportunity there,” said coach Kris Flood. “Offensively, we’re just not moving very well. We’re going to have to continue to work on that. It’s kind of a work in progress right now, and a lot of that falls on us as the coaching staff. We’ll get it figured out.”
After losing the rebounding battle for the first three quarters, Republic managed to seal off the glass during its comeback and ended up tying Olathe East in the rebound department. Each team had 24 boards for the game.
Republic improves to 9-5. The Lady Tigers play Nixa Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Republic Tiger Sports will carry the game live.
Individual Scoring: Kaemyn Bekemeier 14, Jade Kirby 9, Savana Powell-Goodman 7, Jazzy Kirby 6, Delaney Smith 5, Kaitlyn Ragsdale 2, Shealyn Barrett 2