In the fourth quarter of the Tigers’ game at Bolivar Friday, it looked like the Liberators were about to add the first blemish to Republic’s perfect record. Bolivar had trailed at the end of each of the first three quarters, but grabbed the lead early in the fourth. With 2:27 remaining, when Bolivar’s Josh Bowes made two free throws, it gave Bolivar its biggest lead of the night, 52-47. But from that point on, Republic outscored the Liberators 9-2, with escaping with a 56-54 win to stay unbeaten at 7-0.
“It’s a typical Republic-Bolivar matchup. We’ve had some really good games, even dating back to years before these guys were even in uniform, on both teams,” said coach Tim Brown.
After Republic fell behind by five points, Will Fronabarger swished in his fourth three-pointer of the night to cut the lead to two. Oliver Welch intercepted a pass on Bolivar’s next trip down the court, and when Drew McMillin missed a jumper, Welch was there to rebound the ball between 6’6″ Kyle Pock and 6’5″ Josh Bowes. He put the ball back in to tie the game with 1:53 left.
Devon McMillin made the next big defensive play, cutting off Pock’s baseline drive and forcing him out of bounds. Drew McMillin drove to the baseline and flew to the basket at the other end, laying the ball in and giving Republic a two-point lead.
Bowes’s free throws ended Republic’s 7-0 run and tied the score again, but Republic had the ball with 22.3 seconds left and Drew McMillin knew what to do with it. McMillin stepped just inside the arc at the top of the key, rose up, and swished in a 19-footer to give Republic the lead again with four seconds left. A final shot by Bolivar was off the mark.
Drew McMillin finished with 31 points – 17 of them in the second half. Fronabarger joined him in double figures with 12 points. Several other Tigers made big plays at key moments throughout the night.
“We had a lot of guys step up. Tyson Young came in and had a really good first half, (and) gave us some baskets that we needed. He did a good job of screening and slipping, and made some great offensive rebounds to keep plays alive,” Brown said. “And Will Fronabarger played amazing tonight. He made some big-time shots in the first half, then he made a big-time shot late when we needed him to.
“Then Oliver Welch… man, he won the game for us. We went with some offense/defense (substitutions)… It seemed like every time he went in, he got a defensive play or got a rebound and did things to help our team win. I think that says a lot about him as a person and the kind of teammate he is, and the kind of team that we are and we want to be.”
Republic led 14-10 after one quarter and 30-27 at halftime. The lead was down to one point, 41-40 going into the fourth quarter.
Republic improves to 7-0 this season and will take its undefeated record into the opening round of the Blue & Gold Tournament against Fair Grove on December 28.
Republic Scoring
Drew McMillin 31, Will Fronabarger 12, Tyson Young 6, Oliver Welch 4, Carson Neff 3
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