Republic failed to maintain its early momentum and struggled with fundamentals in a 67-55 loss to Central Tuesday. The Tigers (13-2) built a 14-5 lead midway through the first quarter, but Central (8-6) responded with an 8-0 run and eventually pulled away in the second half.
“We told our guys it was probably the first game we felt like we didn’t deserve to win,” coach Tim Brown said. “From the four-minute mark on, we didn’t deserve to win the game. We had assignment errors on our scouting report with closeouts and…not getting matched up, and then maybe trying to do a little too much and some possessions offensively.”
Central seized its first lead with 4:00 remaining in the second quarter when Devin Sanford hit a three-pointer to make it 22-21. Sanford finished with five three-pointers and 17 points, leading a Central attack that connected on 10 shots from beyond the arc. From Republic’s early nine-point advantage, Central outscored the Tigers 62-41 the rest of the way.
Brenley Hagewood led Republic with 19 points and Keiran Govan added 18, but the Tigers struggled with close-range shots and rebounding. Central capitalized on multiple second and third chances.
A 20-point third quarter helped Central establish control, as the Bulldogs held Republic to 11 points during that period.
“There were some things that happened that were kind of some goofy plays in that third quarter. A couple of missed layups here, ball bouncing a couple different directions, and they capitalized on it,” Brown said. “And some missed free throws. I mean, it was a game that we still could have found a way to win, but I’m not sure we deserved to win.”
After Central opened up a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, 59-44, Republic made one last drive to get back into the game. The Tigers scored seven straight points to cut the lead to eight, and eventually closed the gap to six, at 61-55, but would never get closer.
“We’ve been pretty good all year, but we have a lot of good people left on our schedule, and we’re going to have to learn how to play through that adversity,” Brown said.
Keion Epps and Bryce Walker each scored 13 for Central, while Tryton Jackson added 12.
The win avenged a 64-63 loss by the Bulldogs to Republic during the Republic Invitational in December.
The Tigers are off until they play in the Liberator Tournament at Bolivar next week.
Score by Quarters
Central: 13-17-20-17-67
Republic: 14-17-11-13-55
Central Scoring
Devin Sanford 17, Keion Epps 13, Bryce Walker 13, Tryton Jackson 12, Jordan Pittman 5, Brody Holland 4, Donovan Martin 3
Republic Scoring
Brenley Hagewood 19, Keiran Govan 18, CJ Uhl 8, Brody Blades 5, Ryder Davis 3, Trenten Coleman 2
