Nixa’s swarming full-court press overwhelmed Republic early, building a 16-point lead that proved too much to overcome in a 48-36 win Thursday. Though Republic battled back several times to get within single digits, the damage from a 17-1 deficit in the opening minutes was decisive.
“Their press hurt us worse than I thought (it would),” Republic coach Tori Mooneyham said. “When you get out there on the floor, you realize how long and lanky they are. They trapped that first pass and we just struggled with that.”
Republic’s big first-quarter deficit hearkened back to an early-season pattern of first-quarter struggles for the Lady Tigers.
Republic settled in after the opening minutes, trimming the lead to 10 points by halftime. A three-pointer by Lanney Strong early in the third quarter cut Nixa’s advantage to seven. The Lady Tigers got within single digits several more times but couldn’t get closer.
Ceely Young and Brooke Teter scored 11 points each to lead Nixa. Taylor Wood added 10 points as the Lady Eagles improved to 10-3.
“Once I got them to just kind of relax and just play… we outscored them in (the final) three quarters,” Mooneyham said. She said the Lady Tigers are “a group that’s inexperienced has not played on these big stages before. It takes us a while to adjust and get into the game. I’m hopeful, as many of these as we’ve had – this is our seventh state-ranked team – that eventually we will have the experience to not come out like that.”
Strong scored 10 points for the Lady Tigers, who fell to 5-7. It was Nixa’s first win over Republic after four straight losses in the series.
Score by Quarters
Nixa 23-6-8-11-48
Republic 8-11-7-10-36
Nixa Scoring
Ceely Young 11, Brooke Teter 11, Taylor Wood 10, Karis Ferguson 7, Kennedy Nash 4, Gwen Kubik 2, Addy Ruffin 3
Republic Scoring
Lanney Strong 10, Addie Brown 7, Josie Stalzer 6, Awbree Berning 4, Cora Cutbirth 3, Paelyn Gilmore 3, Sammi Watson 3
