On a night of wild momentum swings, the momentum swung to Republic at the right time. The Lady Tigers scored eight consecutive points in the final 70 seconds of the game to pull away from Kickapoo for a 63-57 win in the sectional playoff round Wednesday, earning their second consecutive trip to the state quarterfinals.
Kickapoo opened the game with a 7-0 run, only to see Republic with a 13-5 run of its own. When Delaney Smith and Kaitlyn Ragsdale hit back-to-back threes, the Lady Tigers took their first lead of the night, 13-12. Republic’s pressure defense frustrated Kickapoo and caused several turnovers, and the Lady Tigers got hot from outside, making seven three-pointers in the first half. At the midway point, Republic led 32-27.
When Republic had success, it was because it limited Kickapoo’s much taller lineup to one shot per possession. That was a key point of emphasis for Republic.
“The plan going into the game was, we knew how tall they were, and the biggest thing we kept saying was how the rebounds were going to affect us…,” Jazzy Kirby said. ” just trying to block out on both ends to limit their second shots and give us more opportunities.”
When Republic with five straight points, they held their biggest lead of the night at 37-27. But Kickapoo’s junior forward, Indya Green almost single-handedly grabbed momentum back for the Lady Chiefs. Green took control on the inside, scoring ten of her points in the second half, to help Kickapoo regain control. The Lady Chiefs went on a 16-6 run to go on top by five, 47-42, and looked like they might cruise into the quarterfinals.
But Kaitlyn Ragsdale hit her third three-pointer of the night to stop the bleeding, and after a timeout by coach Kris Flood, the Lady Tigers doubled down on defense and double-teamed Green in the lane, daring Kickapoo to beat them from the outside. The defensive switch made the difference, and Republic picked up its game on the offensive end, as well. Kaemyn Bekemeier drove the lane, got cut off, and whirled to whip the ball to a wide-open Jazzy Kirby for a three, and Republic was back on top. A takeaway at the other end of the floor set up a driving layup by Bekemeier to make the score 50-47 with 3:33 left. It was an 8-0 run by the Lady Tigers.
“We just made a few adjustments, especially on the Green kid,” Flood said. “I just told them … basically to relax. We needed some stops… We gathered ourselves back in the time-out and just kind of relaxed and got some shots to fall.”
Kickapoo answered again, scoring five straight to retake the lead, before Bekemeier completed a traditional three-point play. Kickapoo scored again to go up 55-54, but two more free throws by Bekemeier made it 56-55 and Republic never trailed again.
Republic made 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold on. Bekemeier was eight for nine from the line in the final period.
“I can’t say enough about the free throw shooting. We hit a ton there,” Flood said.
The Lady Tigers improve to 20-9, and they advance to the state quarterfinals for a second straight year. They beat Kickapoo both years, and they will again face Columbia Rock Bridge in the quarterfinals. Rock Bridge knocked off Ozark in their sectional to get back to the quarters. Republic returns to the round of eight despite losing Clara Fronabarger and Shealyn Barrett to injury at mid-season. Flood says this group’s experience matters.
“They’ve been through some of this and a lot of them have experienced it, and I think that is important. As long as they rely on each other and try not to do too much one-on-one stuff, and just play as a group, I think they realize that can carry them a long way.”
Republic scoring: Kaemyn Bekemeier 20, Jazzy Kirby 14, Kaitlyn Ragsdale 13, Jade Kirby 6, Delaney Smith 5, Savana Powell-Goodman 5