By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
In a game that looked pretty one-sided Thursday night – at least for a half – it came down to a frantic finish.
Trailing by 13 points after one quarter and 11 after two, the eighth-seeded Republic Lady Tigers had an opportunity to send the game to overtime with 12.4 seconds to go in the game. But time ran out and the fifth-seeded Fair Grove Lady Eagles held on for a 53-50 White semifinal victory in the Pink and White Lady Classic at Drury University’s O’Reilly Family Event Center.
“We had an opportunity there, we just had some miscommunication on our play,” Republic coach Kris Flood said. “Our kids fought hard and battled back there to give ourselves that opportunity to possibly tie the game.”
Fair Grove scored off the opening tip as junior Alana Findley gathered the ball and scored on a layup to put the Lady Eagles on the board, 2-0. Findley would finish with 10 first-quarter points on a variety of shots as Fair Grove raced to an 18-5 lead.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as Findley would add six points to her total, with Cyndey Fullterton chipping in with five for a 32-21 Fair Grove lead at the half.
But foul trouble in the second half made things a little more interesting, and allowed Republic to chip away at Fair Grove’s lead.
“Our two leading scorers – Alana Findley and Harley Maxwell – both had four fouls and that completely changes our game plan,” Fair Grove coach Jenny Talbert said. “We have girls in different positions, girls who don’t know everything that we normally do from those spots, so it really changes things.
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“There really wasn’t much flow to that game because it was really tightly called, so it was kind of hard to get going on either end of the floor.”
Fair Grove did manage to extend its lead to 17 with almost five minutes left in the third, but Findley picked up her third foul, and then her fourth with 1:31 left, forcing her to sit the remainder of the quarter. Republic was able to put some points on the board and pulled within eight (43-35) heading into the fourth.
The Lady Tigers opened the fourth quarter with four free throws to make it 43-39, the closest they had gotten in the game to that point.
Findley blocked a shot, but then picked up her fifth foul, sending her to the bench with 2:57 to go. Republic hit one of two free throws with Fair Grove still holding on to its five-point lead (45-40).
The final two-and-a-half minutes were a foul-fest.
Republic picked up a technical, sending Fair Grove to the line, where Taylor Bell hit both of her shots, and giving the ball back to the Lady Eagles. Another Republic foul and a made free throw from Brooke Luna, gave Fair Grove a 48-40 lead.
Republic senior Megan Branstetter was fouled and made two free throws. A couple of Fair Grove turnovers led to a Branstetter layup and free throw and it was a four-point game (49-45) with 1:30 remaining.
The two teams traded baskets and Branstetter hit two more free throws to pull Republic within three (53-50). A Fair Grove turnover with 14.2 seconds left gave Republic the opportunity it needed.
The Lady Tigers called timeout to set up a play and got two shots at the basket, but came up empty.
“I was really proud,” Talbert said. “We struggled a little bit, but we kind of weathered the storm and never gave up the lead – that was a big thing – and we were able to make plays. Our little freshman, Brooke Luna, came in and broke the press, had an assist or two and made a free throw and that was huge, just having someone who could bring some life to us there at the end.”
“Fair Grove is a good team,” Flood said. “They’re 11-1 for a reason. Hopefully, we can bounce back. We play a good Nixa team tomorrow.”
And, for Fair Grove, it’s Mid-Lakes Conference foe, Skyline, at 6 p.m. for the White Division title.
“We are very familiar with them,” Talbert said. “They’re a great team, a great program and we’re going to have to be ready to go from the beginning. We can’t take quarters off, kind of like we did tonight. We have to be ready from the start.”
Pink and White Lady Classic
White Division semifinal
No. 5 Fair Grove 53, No. 8 Republic 50
REPUBLIC 5-16-14-15—50
FAIR GROVE 18-14-11-10—53
REPUBLIC (3-6) – Morgan McGuire 3, Megan Branstetter 14, Brylee Manes 11, Halli Bartlesmeyer 12, Avy Powell-Qualo 9, Anna Bell 1.
FAIR GROVE (11-1) – Harley Maxwell 5, Maddie Clark 1, Lexie Sutherland 13, Alana Findley 16, Taylor Bell 7, Bailee Morgan 5, Cyndey Fullerton 5, Brooke Luna 1.
