By now, the proverbial radar has to be picking up a Black and Orange surge. And it’s approaching fast.
Republic notched another victory over a state-ranked team – its third of the season – and claimed sole possession of the COC-Large Division lead Friday night with a 56-50 home victory over Nixa.
Republic, which had lost its previous 10 games against Nixa, improved to 18-4 overall and 4-0 in league play.
"We've kind of flown under the radar all season long," said Republic coach Trevyor Fisher. “Not many people have paid attention to us. But our guys haven't paid any attention to that staff, they've come ready to go every single week and just keep plugging along."
Republic junior guard Ty Stevens led the way with a career-high 25 points, almost single-handedly forcing Nixa out of its trademark 2-3 zone. Stevens made six 3-pointers in the game, five coming in the first half when he registered 18 points to give Republic a 31-22 halftime lead.
"I wasn't really feeling it in warmups, but that doesn't usually matter to me," Stevens said. "I knew it when I hit my first shot. Usually when I hit my first shot I keep going and I'm feeling good about myself. Especially when I hit that first 3 and I kept getting open. Every time it just felt right.
“It felt good the whole night, so I just kept shooting."
After splitting a pair of free throws, Republic led 53-50 with 56 seconds remaining. Nixa missed a potential tying 3-pointer on its ensuing possession, and Republic would again split two free throws to go up 54-50 with 23 seconds left.
Nixa again came up empty on a 3-pointer and Stevens would grab the rebound the make two free throws to clinch the victory.
After the teams shook hands, Republic players and student sections celebrated near mid-court.
The Tigers now own wins over state ranked teams in Class 5 (Nixa), Class 4 (Bolivar) and Class 2 (Hartville). Two of Republic's four losses on the season came to Arkansas teams at the Republic Tournament in early December.
"I think most people kind of underestimate us, but we keep coming back and showing them that we can beat these teams," Stevens said. "We know every game that we can beat these teams, even if they don't necessarily think we can beat (them). We always have that mindset and I think that's what helps us in the games."
Despite leading by 13 in the second quarter, Republic’s lead was whittled down to just 40-37 going into the fourth quarter.
Republic’s offense slowed to halt in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, before Mitchell Coiner got a corner 3-pointer to bounce in and give the Tigers a 46-41 lead.
Later, Treydon Rackley’s drove to the basket and finish to push Republic’s lead to 50-44 with two minutes remaining.
"We executed very well offensively," Fisher said. "We wanted to run some offense first then get into what we were trying to accomplish. When we decided it was the time to go, we executed. Everything looks a lot better when shots go in the bucket. We shot it extremely well, but that's the type of effort we needed and I'm really proud of our kids."
Nixa, which was without junior forward Christian Bundy for the game, fell to 18-4 overall and 2-1 in league play. The Eagles host Ozark on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Republic hosts Willard the same night.
Republic 56, Nixa 50
Nixa 10 12 15 13 — 50
Republic 16 15 9 16 – 56
Nixa – Garrett Bacon 16, Chase Allen 9, Seth Viebrock 8, Preston Flood 6, Braeden Combs 3, Austin Bracker 3, Evan Bergmann 3, Parker Dent 2
Republic – Ty Stevens 25, Tristan Ollar 10, Mitchell Coiner 10 Cameron Doke 4, Treydon Rackley 4, Tyler Phillips 2, Devon Ward 1
