Republic overcame a near-disastrous final minute to eke out a win over Columbia Battle Friday at the Stephanie Phillips Classic at Kickapoo High School. Despite two turnovers in the final 20 seconds, Republic held off Battle for a 51-49 victory.
Game Replay
The Lady Tigers and Spartans were close throughout the game, but Republic built an eight-point lead at 46-38 with 2:08 remaining. From there, just about everything went wrong for the Lady Tigers. Battle immediately made a three-pointer to cut the lead to 46-41 with 1:56 left. The margin was down to 47-43 with 1:20 remaining.
A Misora Nambara free throw gave Republic a four-point lead, 51-47, with 40.9 seconds left. The Lady Tigers got a defensive stop, but Battle’s Tayla Robinson intercepted an in-bounds pass under the basket and hit a layup to make it 51-49. The following in-bounds pass was also intercepted with 12.8 seconds left, giving Battle a final shot to tie or win.
Republic’s defense knocked the ball out of bounds as the buzzer sounded, but officials put a half-second back on the clock, giving Battle one last chance. A final three-point attempt was off the mark as time expired, allowing Republic to escape.
Nambara led Republic with 14 points, and Molly Mason had 13. Molly Blades was also in double figures with ten.
Republic improves to 4-2, while Battle falls to 3-3. The Lady Tigers will play Jefferson City at 3:30 pm Saturday, and Republic Tiger Sports will carry the game live.
Score by Quarters
Battle 10 14 9 15 – 49
Republic 14 14 6 17 – 51
Individual Scoring
Misora Nambara 14, Molly Mason 13, Molly Blades 10, Alex Price 6, Lauren Chastain 4, Alaina Norman 4