One day and a world of difference.
Republic took a big step forward in its second game of the season, pulling away from Rolla 70-60 in the Republic Invitational semifinals Friday.
Just 24 hours after a narrow 50-47 win over Capital City in their opener, the Tigers – still integrating several football players into the lineup – looked more comfortable and organized. After Rolla opened with eight straight points, Republic answered with an 8-0 run to tie the game. The Tigers then reeled off 11 consecutive points after falling behind 12-8, building a 19-8 advantage early in the second quarter.
“We were organized. It’s amazing when you get organized, the things that can happen offensively,” said Republic coach Tim Brown. “I thought Keiran did a really good job of getting us into our stuff. I thought all of our guys played with a lot more pace.
“Last night we got sped up and didn’t play with pace, and those two don’t usually make sense, but tonight we played with the right pace, and we were able to manipulate the game offensively and get things that we wanted to get.”
The Tigers’ post players made their presence felt. Davin Parks, CJ Uhl, and Kaden Howard combined for 26 points.
“All three of them – CJ, Kaden, and Dav all gave us big minutes tonight,” Brown said. “CJ did a great job of altering shots in there and being big, and he drew some attention in the post, and then Dav and Kaden got a lot of good cuts and kind of slid their way in there and were able to keep some plays alive, and then defensively, they rebounded so good.”
Brenley Hagewood led Republic with 27 points, and sophomore point guard Keiran Govan added nine as Republic improved to 2-0. The Tigers advance to Saturday’s championship game against Central at 3:30 p.m. The Bulldogs needed overtime to get past Ozark Friday in the late game.
Ethan Brown led Rolla with 30 points.
Score by Quarters
Rolla 12 10 22 16 – 60
Republic 13 18 31 8 – 70
Rolla – Ethan Brown 30, Jenson Thomas 12, Paxton Ledbetter 10, John Papadakos 4, Easton Smith 4
Republic – Brenley Hagewood 27, Davin Parks 12, Keiran Govan 9, Kaden Howard 7, C.J. Uhl 7, Ryder Davis 3, Trenten Coleman 3, Brody Blades 2
