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By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
With five minutes remaining in the game, the Republic girls were at their low point.
A 10-point lead in the third quarter had vanished during Kickapoo’s 20-5 run, and when Indya Green scored with 5:25 left in the game the Chiefs had scored 10-unanswered points and led 47-42.
But the Tigers proved the moment wasn’t too big. Republic scored on 10 of its final 12 possessions and made 11 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter to beat Kickapoo 63-57 on Wednesday in a Class 5 sectional game at Webb City.
“I’ve coached several games and seen several games where there’s just constant momentum changes but this one was a little bit different,” Republic coach Kris Flood said. “Just the way the game started, us fighting back, had that nice lead in the third quarter and then they charged back. It was just back and forth. Two teams that played really hard.”
Kickapoo (18-11) scored the first seven points of the game before Republic (20-9) charged back to lead 18-16 by the end of the first quarter. The game was tied at 18, 20, and 22 before the Tigers started to put some distance between the two teams. A three pointer by junior Kaitlyn Ragsdale made it 27-22 and then junior Jazzy Kirby’s triple with 3:15 left in the half gave the Tigers their biggest lead yet, 32-24.
Republic led 32-27 at halftime and quickly made it a 10-point game in the third with a basket by freshman Kaemyn Bekemeier and a three from junior Savana Powell-Goodman.
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Republic still led by eight when two Ragsdale free throws made it 39-31 with 3:21 left in the quarter.
By the end of the third it was down to three, and then Republic went scoreless over its next seven possessions.
Green finally put the Chiefs ahead with 6:03 left in the game. After an offensive rebound and score by Kickapoo sophomore Brooke Turner, and another Green basket, it was 47-42.
“Our defense got us back in it,” Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass said. “Gave us a chance to have some good offensive possessions. Got some stops and we were able to kind of get back in the game.”
Three pointers by Ragsdale and Kirby quickly put the Tigers back on top, though they trailed again with 2:41 remaining and again at the 1:30 mark. After that they made nine-straight free throws – six by Bekemeier – and Kickapoo turned it over three times in the final minute.
“They got us out of sync,” Flood said. “We probably got a little bit quick with our shots and things like that and then we were lax. We went back and got the ball, hit a couple threes, got a shot on the inside and it just opened up from there. Got a big three-point play from the Bekemeier kid that was huge.”
“It was just a matter of getting a good shot and not trying to force stuff. That’s what we did,” he said. “The free throws were big. We’ve been shooting them better, especially since about the end of February.”
“They shot 17 free throws in the second half, went 14 for 17,” Pendergrass said. “That’s getting to the line a heck of a lot. That’s hard to overcome.”
Kickapoo was 3-for-6 at the line in the second half.
“In a game like that there’s a lot of plays, a lot of things that could have happened differently,” Pendergrass said. “We allowed nine three-pointers. If we do a better job contesting the line the game’s going to be closer. If we don’t put them at the line so much it’s going to be closer.”
Republic was led by Bekemeier’s 20 points. Ragsdale scored 16 and Kirby had 11.
“Just really proud of the way the kids played hard,” Flood said. “I’m so impressed with our kids on the bench. They always stay focused and in the game. We don’t play a ton of players but it truly is a team effort with this group.”
Kickapoo’s Green led the Chiefs with 16 points.
Republic will now face Rock Bridge (21-5) in Saturday’s quarterfinal round at Bolivar.
