Devon McMillin has been playing the best basketball of his Tiger career over the past few weeks. The senior guard has stepped up his scoring, averaging 15.3 points per since the new year began. But he’s also drawn defensive assignments that have been a big part of Republic’s three-game winning streak. Against Springfield Catholic, McMillin drew the defensive assignment against Zach Howell, one of the top scorers in southwest Missouri, and held him to five points in the first half (and under 20 for the game). Against Neosho, McMillin led the effort to shut down Kdyn Waters, who had been scoring 22 points a game for the Wildcats, but managed only 11 against Republic.