Republic raced past Joplin with a 22-point second quarter, cruising to a 72-44 home victory Friday. Brenley Hagewood led all scorers with 22 points, including three 3-pointers.
The Tigers’ post players continued their strong play, with Davin Parks scoring 12 points and CJ Uhl adding 10. Kaden Howard chipped in 4 points in limited minutes inside. The big men have developed good chemistry, according to coach Tim Brown.
“I think you look at our team, most of them like playing together, but those two have played really well off each other,” Brown said. “Coach Armstrong’s done a good job in developing both of those guys and making sure that they’re able to finish plays and play off each other well.”
Brown said Parks and Uhl bring different skills to the floor. “CJ’s a big, strong, tall force in there who’s playing really strong this year. And Dav’s kind of, we call him a hybrid. Dav can step out and guard just about any position,” he said. “He’s a really good cutter and he’s become a really good passer and he’s one of our best post passers.”
Republic led 15-13 after a quarter, but outscored Joplin 22-5 in the second period to take control. That included a 10-2 run early in the quarter that stretched Republic’s lead to double digits.
After what Brown called a “sluggish start,” the Tigers played with more energy.
“We called a timeout. We talked about it. And from that point on, I thought we tried to have a little more edge, a little more energy,” he said.
Fred Taylor led Joplin with 12 points. Brecken Green added 11.
Republic (19-3) will host Kickapoo Monday in a boys and girls supernight. The varsity boys game will begin around 7:30.
Score by Quarters
Joplin 13-5-9-17-44
Republic 15-22-19-16-72
Joplin Scoring
Brecken Green 11, Fred Taylor 12, Collis Jones 9, Aiden Scourten 4, Cooper Williams 3, T.J. Willis 3, Canyon Kimbrough 2
Republic Scoring
Brenley Hagewood 22, Davin Parks 12, CJ Uhl 10, Ryder Davis 9, Keiran Govan 6, Kaden Howard 4, Trenten Coleman 3, Brody Blades 3, Jin Villasica 2, Braxton Lundberg 1
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