By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Nixa, Mo. — Taylor Fergen had no intentions of Thursday night being her last in a Republic uniform.
The senior guard came out firing for the Lady Tigers in the Class 5 District 12 title game, scoring 13 of her 20 points in the first half and helping secure Republic’s fourth consecutive district title, beating Nixa, 62-44.
“It’s my senior year. It’s playoffs. If you don’t win, you go home. I didn’t want to have things I’d regret in my last game, so I just put it all out there and made sure I gave it my all. I was expecting I’d come out like I did,” Fergen said.
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Nixa (12-15) hung with Republic (17-11) in the first half, trailing 13-10 after the first quarter and 27-22 at the half.
“I thought the first half would what it was. A real tight game,” Republic head coach Kris Flood said. “First time we played [Nixa] it was a three-point game. We were fortunate to have a pretty good second quarter there.”
Republic beat Nixa 48-45 on Feb. 16. Thursday’s second half made sure there wouldn’t be a duplicate of that game. Republic outscored Nixa 35-22 over the final 16 minutes, holding the Lady Eagles to six third-quarter points.
Nixa stood within eight points late in the third quarter before a Megan Branstetter putback put Republic up 10 entering the fourth. Branstetter finished with 20 points.
“One word comes to mind in this game and this season and it’s toughness, and it’s something we don’t have a lot of,” Nixa head coach Jennifer Perryman said. “Mentally tough, physically tough, emotionally tough, and I think that was the difference in tonight’s game.
“The loose balls, the 50/50 balls that were no longer 50/50, the non-blockout rebounds that they took out of our hands, the missed shots, the wide-open missed shots. I think all of that relates to toughness, and I think they were tougher tonight.”
Republic will face Branson in the Class 5 sectionals March 8 at 7:45 pm at Drury University in Springfield. Branson defeated Kickapoo in the C5D11 championship, 58-54.
“Obviously [Branson] will be someone we’re very familiar with,” Flood said. “The first time was a tight game and they got us the second time at our place. They’re well coached and have some senior players who will be ready to go. But we’ve got a good group of seniors and hopefully we’ll be in the same way. Hopefully the third time will be the charm, you never know.”
Branson beat Republic 57-52 on Jan. 20 and 53-45 on Feb. 6. Republic fell by 21 points to Kickapoo the one time those two teams met this season.
“It’s a game that we’re going to be really excited for and we’re going to go into it with a lot of energy and excitement and determination,” Fergen said. “I think it helps a lot knowing it’s not Kickapoo.”
FINAL: Republic 62, Nixa 44
Nixa 10 12 6 16- 44
Republic 13 14 11 24- 62
Nixa- Halley Wiggins 12, Taylor Arnold 11, Kelsey Biro 8, Lakin Copeland 5, Emily Edwards 4, Lakyn Wools 4
Republic- Taylor Fergen 20, Megan Branstetter 20, Brylee Manes 8, Allyson Barrett 6, Halli Bartelsmeyer 5, Avy Powell-Qualo 3
