Republic nearly climbed out of a 12-point hole, but a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer banged off the back iron, allowing Helias to escape with a 50-47 win in the championship game of the Bolivar Liberator Tournament. Republic’s Jordan Douglas got a clean look at the basket from about 35 feet away with time running out, and his shot was on line but just slightly too strong.
Republic had grabbed an early lead with a strong defensive effort in the first quarter. The Tigers held Helias to just six points in the first eight minutes and led 11-6 at the end of one period. In the second quarter, the Crusaders turned the tables with help from sophomore Logan Hillman. Hillman scored 10 points to lead the Crusaders, and they outscored Republic 17-5, building a 23-16 lead at halftime. The Crusaders scored 10 points in a row to end the first half.
In the third quarter, Helias built the lead to 12 points at 32-20. But Republic responded with a 12-5 run of its own to close the gap to 37-32 as the fourth quarter began. A three-point play by Brenley Hagewood to start the fourth quarter got the lead down to two, 37-35.
Coach Tim Brown attributed the comeback in the second half to his team’s improved offensive effort. Republic eliminated turnovers and got good shots during the second-half run.
“All week our defense has been good. I thought even in that spurt where they made a run, I told our guys… ‘You’re playing hard, but there’s another end of the floor where we have to throw it to our team and get a shot,'” said Brown. “And we were able to throw it to our team, get shots, and start chipping away. James (Rexroat) did a good job catching it in the high post and making some plays. (Davin Parks) got loose on some cuts, and then our guards started making plays.”
With a minute and a half left in the game, Helias led 46-39. But the Tigers chipped away and took advantage of missed free throws by the Crusaders to stick around. Jordan Douglas made two three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Tigers close the gap.
Helias’s Sam Lopez made two free throws with about five seconds remaining to put the Crusaders ahead 50-47. Republic got the ball into the front court and Jordan Douglas had an open look at the basket from far behind the three-point line, but his shot hit the back of the rim just ahead of the buzzer.
Republic is 11-7 as it heads back into Central Ozark Conference play against Branson on Tuesday.
Score by Quarters
Helias 6 17 14 13 – 50
Republic 11 5 16 15 – 47
Individual Scoring
Jordan Douglas 12, Brenley Hagewood 12, CJ Uhl 6, Davin Parks 6, Aslan Ebisch 5, James Rexroat 4, Rylee Tan 2,
