Republic knocked off its fourth state-ranked team of the young season, pulling away from Class 3 #1 El Dorado Springs on the road, 66-54. Kaemyn Bekemeier scored 22 points and Molly Blades continued to spark Republic on both ends of the floor, finishing with a career-high 16 and multiple steals.
“Molly looked like she did in that Jeff City game (when she scored 14). It just seems like she’s always around the ball,” said coach Kris Flood. When Blades was around the ball Monday night, she frequently managed to take it away from whichever El Dorado Springs player possessed it at the time. She poked the ball away from her Eldo counterpart in one-on-one situations at least four times Monday, often leading to easy buckets at the other end of the floor for her or a teammate. In her three starts since stepping into the starting lineup for an injured Hope Schatz, Blades is averaging about 12 points per game.
El Dorado Springs stayed close most of the night, though, thanks to senior Macie Mays. Mays finished with 29 points, scoring against any of the defenders who took turns trying to shut her down. She scored 26 through the first three quarters, but managed only three points down the stretch as Republic put the game away.
The Lady Tigers led 18-16 after the first quarter and 39-31 at halftime. Republic eventually led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before finishing with a twelve-point win.
The Lady Tigers improved to 7-1 overall heading into the Christmas break. El Dorado Springs is 6-2.
Flood said despite their good win-loss record, there are places for his Lady Tigers to improve.
“We need to do a better job with the turnovers,” he said. “I felt like tonight we could have had a more comfortable lead, but every time we would get a steal or a stop, we would give it right back.”
Republic is off until its first game in the Pink & White Lady Classic on December 27 against Aurora.
Score by Quarters
El Dorado Springs 16 15 11 14 – 54
Republic 18 21 12 13 – 64
Individual Scoring
Kaemyn Bekemeier 22, Molly Blades 16, Lauren Chastain 9, Alaina Norman 9, Molly Mason 6, Misora Nambara 4