Joe Rexroat and Drew McMillin each scored 20 points to lead Republic to a 20-point victory over Sedalia Smith-Cotton on the road Tuesday, 63-43. Republic bolted to an early lead, let Smith-Cotton climb back into the game, then stepped up its intensity to pull away down the stretch.
Republic grabbed a 12-point lead by the end of the first quarter, 22-10, thanks largely to McMillin’s hot start. He made four three-pointers in the first eight minutes to help Republic take early control. But foul trouble sent him and Ahlante Askew to the bench in the second quarter, and Smith-Cotton took advantage.
Smith-Cotton’s Matt Thompson single-handedly kept his team in the game in the second period, scoring 11 points and helping cut the lead to 31-24 by halftime. Thompson finished with 22 points to lead all scorers.
Smith-Cotton continued to make a run early in the third quarter, scoring the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to 31-29. But on Republic’s next possession, Will Berry scored on a put-back, and Askew made a three-pointer the next time down the floor to quickly extend the lead back to seven points. Race Looney’s conventional three-point play made it a ten-point lead again, and Republic stayed in control the rest of the way.
“There were some spurts tonight where we were really happy with what was going on out there, and then we had some spurts where kind of got it going and we felt like we had some self inflicted errors,” said coach Tim Brown. “It was a really great start. proud of the start that we had on the road.”
Republic improves to 11-4. The Tigers have won six in a row and eight of their last nine.
Republic scoring: Joe Rexroat 20, Drew McMillin 20, Race Looney 9, Ahlante Askew 7, Will Berry 4, Nate Woolford 3
