Nixa built a 15-point lead in the first half and held off Republic’s repeated attempts to close the gap, eliminating the Lady Tigers 52-41 in the Class 6 District 5 semifinal Thursday night. Republic ends its season 23-5.
When the two teams met in January, Republic neutralized a significant size disadvantage by doing the little things well — blocking out, moving the ball, limiting turnovers, knocking down shots. The Lady Tigers won that game 60-43. Thursday, none of those things came together, and Nixa’s size showed.
Republic rarely got second chances and Nixa got plenty of them, taking advantage of their advantage on the offensive boards to score on putbacks all night.
Nixa scored the first four points and never trailed. By the end of the first quarter the Eagles led 18-5, with Taylor Wood accounting for seven of those points. Wood would finish with 20, going 12-of-13 at the free throw line.
The second quarter brought Republic’s best stretch of the night. The Lady Tigers outscored Nixa 18-10, cutting the deficit to five. Addie Brown hit two 3-pointers, Charlie Hagewood added five points, and Cora Cutbirth scored four.
“We just dug ourselves a hole early and had to dig out of that, and that made it hard,” coach Tori Mooneyham said. “Shots that have been falling didn’t fall tonight.”
The third quarter was even — each team scored nine — and Republic still trailed 37-30 heading into the fourth. Josie Stalzer hit a 3-pointer to pull the Lady Tigers within five again at 43-38. But Nixa answered each push, and Wood kept converting at the line.
The free throw disparity compounded everything else. Nixa went 17-of-21 from the stripe. Republic — normally shooting about 75% from the line — made 5-of-13. “Free throws alone, we were in the game,” she said. “It just was a combination of things.”
Republic shot 26 percent from the field and went 6-of-27 from 3-point range. Brown finished with a team-high nine points on three 3-pointers.
The loss closed a season in which Republic set a new school record for 3-pointers made. The Lady Tigers entered Thursday with 180, one short of the 2016 record of 181. They finished the season with 186.
The loss also marked the final game for two seniors, Awbree Berning and Addie Brown, who’ve been varsity contributors for the past two years.
“I told them, ‘I’ve done this for 27 years and I’ve been a part of many of these games, and sometimes it’s just not your night,'” Mooneyham said. “But you’ve got to walk out of here with your head held high. We had a great season. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Nixa advances to face top-seeded Kickapoo in the district championship Friday.
Score by Quarters
Nixa 18 10 9 15 — 52
Republic 5 18 9 9 — 41
Republic Scoring
Addie Brown 9, Charlie Hagewood 7, Cora Cutbirth 7, Awbree Berning 5, Paelyn Gilmore 5, Kinley Kilburn 5, Josie Stalzer 3
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