Republic dominated from start to finish in a 68-33 win over Willard in the Blue & Gold Tournament semifinals Saturday. The Tigers will face Bolivar for the Gold Division championship Monday at 7 p.m.
Republic (9-0) scored the first six points and stretched its lead to 12-2 in the opening minutes. The Tigers hit four first-quarter three-pointers and missed only one three-pointer in the period – a half-court heave by Brody Blades at the buzzer.
Brenley Hagewood led Republic with 25 points. CJ Uhl, who stands 6’7″, scored 10 points and established Republic’s inside presence early.
“I thought CJ was amazing. To start the game, he made his presence known, and I think our guys fed off that. They saw how hard he was working and the things he was getting done,” coach Tim Brown said.
Republic’s defense held Willard to single digits in three different quarters.
“We feel like we’re cleaning some things up defensively and doing a lot of good things,” Brown said. “To hold a team that explosive on offense – they’re one of the best offensive teams in southwest Missouri because of the way they play – I thought we flew around and challenged and made everything hard tonight.”
Eight different Tigers scored, led by Brenley Hagewood with 25. Ryder Davis (12), Blades (10), and Uhl (10) joined Hagewood in double figures.
Braxton Boyer led Willard with eight points.
Second-seeded Republic is on the verge of its first 10-0 start since 2020-21. That year, Republic was 10-0 when it lost to Greenwood in the Blue & Gold championship game. This year’s Tigers will meet unseeded Bolivar in Monday’s championship game.
“It’s two good programs that are going to know everything that the other team’s trying to do, and we’ve had a lot of good battles with them,” Brown said. “They weren’t on our schedule this year, but we knew somehow we’d probably end up finding each other.”
Score by Quarters
Willard 13-8-7-5-33
Republic 24-20-15-9-68
Willard Scoring
Braxton Boyer 8, Jude Wallace 5, J.J. Huskisson 5, Uzziah Huskisson 5, Blake Daughtery 4, Nahmy Kelley 4
Republic Scoring
Brenley Hagewood 25, Ryder Davis 12, CJ Uhl 10, Brody Blades 10, Trenten Coleman 4, Kaden Howard 3, Keiran Govan 2, Davin Parks 2
