Republic used stifling defense and balanced scoring to defeat Thayer 56-44 in the semifinals of the Bolivar Liberator Tournament Friday night. The Tigers never trailed and used an 11-point run bridging the third and fourth quarters to secure their spot in Saturday’s championship game.
Keiran Govan’s defensive effort against Thayer point guard Easton Pitts set the early tone.
“Keiran Govan was a stud. The things he does as a floor general are what every coach wants — a guard that gets it where it needs to go. He had seven assists last night, and he guarded his rear end off tonight,” Republic coach Tim Brown said.
Republic jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind CJ Uhl’s strong inside play. After Thayer adjusted, the rest of Republic’s offense found its rhythm. Brenley Hagewood scored 12 of his game-high 28 points in the second quarter.
Thayer closed within 24-23 late in the first half, but Republic scored the final five points to take a 29-23 halftime lead.
The Bobcats finally pulled even at 33-33 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Republic responded with 11 straight points, sparked by a Uhl basket and a contested three-pointer by Hagewood that made it a five-point game entering the fourth.
Davin Parks helped Republic pull away by scoring six of his eight points in the final period. Thayer never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Brown said the win revolved around the trio of Govan, Hagewood, and Uhl all having strong nights.
“Whenever they all three play well, we feel like we’re pretty good, and all three of them played well, and we had a lot of guys step up and be tough. I mean, Davin was tough, and we did a lot of little things really well. We had a lot of possessions where we got them in late (shot) clock situations, and overall, to hold a team like that to 44, I thought that that was a pretty good performance from us tonight.”
Uhl finished with 10 points for Republic (15-2). Harrington led Thayer (14-3) with 16 points and Pitts added 13.
“We were proud because we knew we beat a really good team tonight,” Brown said.
The Tigers play for the tournament championship Saturday at 2:30.
Score by Quarters
Thayer 11-12-10-11–44
Republic 17-12-9-18–56
Thayer Scoring
Devin Harrington 16, Easton Pitts 13, Hollis Deckard 5, Cooper Clark 7, Brandon Prince 3,
Republic Scoring
Brenley Hagewood 28, CJ Uhl 10, Davin Parks 8, Brody Blades 7, Keiran Govan 2, Trenten Coleman 1
