Republic basketball coach Tim Brown wants his team to regain its identity as the toughest team on the floor. With six seniors returning – including three with significant starting experience – the Tigers have the experience to do it as they look to improve on last year’s 15-12 record.
“I think it’s always good whenever you have six seniors. We have a group of kids that have been in our program for a long time and have been through the wars and know the expectations, and out of those seniors, three of them have started a lot of games for us,” coach Tim Brown said.
The Tigers will blend their returning size with improved athleticism on the perimeter this season. “We had size, and we talked last year about having size and that being something that we haven’t had in the past, but we were slow,” Brown said. “I think our perimeter play on both ends is a little more athletic, a little more explosive, and that’s what we’re excited about — being able to take those two strengths and being able to blend it and mesh it for this basketball team.”
Leading the returners is senior Brenley Hagewood, who averaged 18.3 points per game last season. He’s averaged double figures in scoring since his freshman season. “When you have a kid that’s led your program in scoring since his sophomore year, it’s hard to continue to raise the bar,” Brown said. “We’ve seen a maturity from him, like we have a lot of our guys when it’s their turn to be a senior, and I’m expecting big things from him.”
Davin Parks returns after shooting 62.3% from the field as a junior. “I think Dav had a fantastic summer for us. A guy that’s super versatile, especially the way we play, with the types of cuts that we like to make in our offense, and being a guy that can guard multiple positions on the floor,” Brown said. “He put more time in his game between the end of last season to now than he has prior to this.”
C.J. Uhl will have a year under his belt after a previous injury and a late start because of football last winter, put him behind schedule as a junior. “The first time that C.J. really did Republic basketball stuff was the day after the state championship game when he played in the Hillcrest game,” Brown said. “He’s grown. He seems taller to me. He’s put more weight on in the weight room. I just expect a stronger, healthier version of him.”
Kaden Howard steps into a bigger role after leading the JV team in scoring. “There were times last year in JV games where we would say, ‘Wow, that’s pretty impressive,’” Brown said. “Getting him to buy into the little things that we need him to do and realizing that he might have to do more off the ball at the varsity level than on the ball” will be a key to his success.
Three-sport athlete Ryder Davis brings versatility to the lineup. “He loves competing for Republic. He loves competing for our school,” Brown said. “He’s going to do whatever he has to do to help our basketball team win, whether it be diving on the floor, taking a charge, or making a big shot.”
Owen George returns after establishing himself at the JV level. “You have to have kids like in your program that are willing to do anything and everything. He’s an everyday guy,” Brown said. “He does everything with energy. He’s always trying to be on the same page as our coaches.”
Juniors Braxton Lundberg, Camden Dunn, and Jin Villasica step up to the varsity roster after a strong JV season last year.
The Tigers also look to several sophomores, including Keiran Govan, who saw varsity minutes as a defensive standout late last season. Brody Blades brings shooting ability and defense to the mix. “When that’s the goal of the game… that’s a good skill to have,” Brown said. “I think what people don’t realize is how well he defends. He’s a lot more athletic and quick than what people realize.”
Trenten Coleman is also likely to be in the rotation. “I think whenever you have a situation where you have seniors and you have some underclassmen that are going to have a chance to get some reps and be in the mix, you never know how that’s going to go,” Brown said. “He’s not afraid to be gritty. That’s what we need.”
Brown said the program’s expectations remain high. “We expect to compete and play for regular season championships. We expect to play and compete for conference championships and district championships,” he said.
But meeting those expectations will require a return to the program’s identity. “We’ve lost a little bit of the edge of just being the toughest team on the floor,” Brown said. “My goal as a basketball coach is to make sure that we have a team that resembles that Repmo Grind that we’ve been able to hang our hat on more times than not.”
