Republic erupted for 27 first-quarter points Friday night, turning their final regular-season game into a runaway and clinching the Central Ozark Conference West title outright with a 71-46 win over Parkview.
It’s the second straight year a victory over Parkview has delivered a conference championship. Last season, the Tigers edged the Vikings 49-45 to claim the COC West. This time, there was no suspense.
“I’m so proud of our basketball team for winning the COC West again,” coach Tim Brown said. “It was a goal we set coming into the season, and to see it become a reality says a lot about this group.”
The title became Republic’s when Webb City — the only team to beat the Tigers in conference play — dropped its final two league games, including a loss to Neosho on Friday. That cleared the way for Republic to win the division outright.
Six Tigers scored in the first quarter as Republic raced to a 27-11 lead. AJ Uhl knocked down a three and added a pair of baskets. Slater Howard buried two threes. Braxton Lundberg, Keiran Govan, Trenten Coleman, and Brody Blades all contributed as Republic’s offense clicked from the opening tip.
Parkview trimmed the margin slightly in the second quarter, outscoring Republic 11-10 to make it 37-22 at the half. But any hope of a Parkview rally faded in the third. Lundberg went to work inside, scoring eight points as Republic pushed the lead to 54-37.
The Tigers held Parkview to nine fourth-quarter points while Uhl poured in six to cap the 25-point win.
“Every team goes through a different journey each year, and it’s been fun to watch this group find ways to win and accomplish what they set out to do,” Brown said. “We’ve had a lot of guys step into new and different roles, and that’s part of what makes a season special.”
Uhl led Republic with 18 points. Lundberg added 13, and Coleman had 12.
“They’ve overcome adversity, battled through growing pains, and shown just how tough and resilient they are,” Brown said of his team. “I couldn’t be prouder of the way they’ve competed and represented our program.”
Davis led Parkview with 14 points.
Score by Quarters
Parkview 11-11-15-9—46
Republic 27-10-17-17—71
Republic Scoring
AJ Uhl 18, Braxton Lundberg 13, Trenten Coleman 12, Keiran Govan 9, Slater Howard 9, Brody Blades 8, Camden Dunn 2
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