Republic celebrated its seniors with a win Tuesday night, using a strong second half to pull away from Lebanon for a 51–42 victory on Senior Night.
Camden Dunn, Braxton Lundberg, and Jin Villasica were honored before the game, and all three started. But was Lebanon that flew out to an early lead. The Yellow Jackets made two straight threes to start the contest to take a 6-0 lead and held onto that lead until a three-pointer by Brody Blades gave the Tigers their first lead at 11-10. The Tigers trailed 14–13 after one quarter, but buckets by Blades and Slater Howard helped the Tigers build a five-point edge before halftime. Lebanon fought back to tie the game at the break, 25-25.
The turning point came in the third quarter. Republic limited Lebanon to five points while scoring nine of its own, pushing the margin to 34–30 on a basket by Dunn late in the period.
Blades opened the fourth quarter with another basket, and Dunn followed with a three-pointer. Keiran Govan added two baskets during a key stretch, and Trenten Coleman provided late insurance at the free-throw line as Republic closed the game on a steady run. The Tigers outscored Lebanon 17-12 in the fourth quarter.
Blades led Republic with 14 points, including three three-pointers. Uhl finished with 12 points and went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. Coleman scored nine, Dunn added five, and Lundberg chipped in four, including a pair of free throws in the second half. Villasica, the third senior in the lineup, exited early with an injury.
Lebanon was led by Harrison Howe with 13 points and Evan King with 11.
Coach Tim Brown reflected on the senior group and what they have meant to the program.
“They’re the ultimate program guys,” Brown said. “They’re guys that have had to wait their turn and didn’t get their first chance to be big contributors at the varsity level until they were seniors, and they cared enough about our program and each other to stick it out.”
Brown pointed to Villasica’s reliability, Lundberg’s situational impact, and Dunn’s fit within Republic’s system as reasons the senior class has continued to earn opportunities.
“Jin’s Mr. Reliable. He’s always tried to be in the right spot and do the right thing,” Brown said. “Braxton’s had a great senior season and has given us a big role in certain matchups. And Cam had a great summer and really fits into what we want to do. Hopefully all of those guys will have a big part in our success down the stretch.”
Republic finished the night shooting 41 percent from the field and 10-for-14 at the free-throw line.
Score by Quarters
Lebanon 14-11-5-12-42
Republic 13-12-9-17-51
Republic Scoring
Brody Blades 14, AJ Uhl 12, Trenten Coleman 9, Camden Dunn 5, Braxton Lundberg 4, Keiran Govan 4, Slater Howard 3
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