Republic’s smaller, quicker lineup pestered Cape Girardeau Notre Dame’s bigger players all night, rolling to a 58-45 win in the first round of the Nixa Invitational Tournament Thursday. Republic led by as many as 22 points before a late surge by the Lady Bulldogs cut into the lead in the final minutes.
The teams both had difficulty scoring early, with the defenses in control. But a three-pointer by Molly Blades with 2:11 left in the in the first quarter sparked a 7-0 run that helped Republic take control. The Lady Tigers led 20-10 at the end of the first quarter and 34-19 at halftime.
“Coming into the game, we were ready to go, especially off the Pink & White games that we had,” said Blades. “We’ve been coming together as a team really well and working off of each other.”
Facing a much taller lineup, Republic drilled into his players the importance of holding their own on the boards, and the Lady Tigers did that despite their size disadvantage.
“Today, we did a pretty good job of blocking out,” Nambara said. “They had three (or) four six-foot girls. We’re pretty small, so boxing out was a big key.”
Republic’s defense gave Cape Notre Dame fits all night, forcing several turnovers and making it difficult for anyone to get off a shot at all. Republic allowed 10 points in the first quarter, nine in the second, and eight in the third. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when Notre Dame found its footing offensively, but its 18-point final period was too little, too late.
Republic led 46-24 with one minute remaining in the third quarter before Cape Notre Dame finally put together an offensive push.
Republic advances to the semifinals Friday against Nixa. The conference rivals will play at 7:00 p.m. We will not carry the game live, but you can watch on the Nixa Athletics YouTube channel.
Score by Quarters
Cape Notre Dame 10 9 8 18 – 45
Republic 20 14 12 12 – 58
Individual Scoring
Misora Nambara 15, Molly Blades 14, Alex Price 8, Alaina Norman 8, Molly Mason 8, Lauren Chastain 5