Republic buried 14 three-pointers — tying a school record — and put the game away early in an 84-54 win at Willard on Tuesday. The Lady Tigers improved to 21-4 and took a commanding position in the race for back-to-back Central Ozark Conference West titles, with only winless Parkview remaining on the conference schedule.
Charlie Hagewood led all scorers with 21 points, hitting four threes. Cora Cutbirth added 16 points on a mix of interior buckets and free throws, going 6-of-7 from the line. Paelyn Gilmore scored all 15 of her points from beyond the arc, connecting on 5-of-9 from three. She scored 12 of her points in the second half. Awbree Berning chipped in 14.
Head coach Tori Mooneyham tried something different before the game, leading the team through a visualization exercise set to their pregame song, “Eye of the Tiger.” It worked.
“I thought the girls came out ready to play. They were focused. They were locked in,” Mooneyham said. “We shot the ball well, but that first half, our defense was solid.”
Republic’s shooting struggles of late were part of the motivation. “We’ve been struggling with shooting, and I thought, you know what, [the visualization) is not going to hurt. And we just tried something new, and I think they bought into it,” Mooneyham said.
The Lady Tigers jumped on Willard from the start. Berning scored the first Republic basket, and Hagewood followed with a bucket to give Republic its first lead at 4-3. Republic never trailed again. Hagewood knocked down back-to-back threes midway through the first quarter, and Addie Brown’s three at the buzzer pushed the lead to 24-9.
Republic extended the margin to 29-9 early in the second quarter on a Kinley Kilburn free throw and basket. Willard answered with a 7-0 run, keyed by Elise Murray, to cut it to 29-16, but a Hagewood three stopped the bleeding and Republic took a 38-20 lead into the break.
The third quarter was the most competitive stretch. Willard outscored Republic 24-23 in the period, with Murray scoring seven points and Harper Floyd hitting a three late in the quarter. But Cutbirth carried Republic through the middle of the period with eight points. Josie Stalzer and Hagewood hit threes to keep the Republic comfortably ahead. Berning closed the quarter with consecutive threes as Republic led 62-43 heading into the fourth.
Gilmore took over in the final period. She hit four three-pointers in the quarter. The last two were part of an 11-0 Republic run. Jordin Quessenberry capped the run — and the scoring — with a three that tied the school record of 14 threes in a game, set first against Joplin on Feb. 10, 2022, and matched against Neosho on Feb. 10, 2025.
Mooneyham was aware the record was within reach. “I caught wind that we were at 13, and so when I subbed that last group in, I said, you have the green light to shoot,” she said. Mooneyham said she normally would tell her team to avoid shooting in that situation with a big lead, but she didn’t want to deny her players a chance to match or break the record.
As a team, Republic shot 14-of-26 from three-point range (54%) and 31-of-65 from the field overall (48%).
Willard (15-10) was led by Murray’s 16 points.
With a win Thursday, Republic clinches back-to-back COC West championships. “They know if we take care of business on Thursday, then they get to be back-to-back COC champs, and that was kind of the goal and I think the motivator behind a lot of how they played tonight,” Mooneyham said.
Score by Quarters
Willard 9-11-23-11 — 54
Republic 24-14-24-22 — 84
Republic Scoring
Charlie Hagewood 21, Cora Cutbirth 16, Paelyn Gilmore 15, Awbree Berning 14, Addie Brown 7, Kinley Kilburn 5, Jordin Quessenberry 3, Josie Stalzer 3
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