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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD – With two of the region’s top guards in his starting lineup last season, Republic coach Tim Brown liked to say that Drew McMillin and Ahlante Askew were his 1-A and 1-B.
Now that McMillin has moved onto Southwest Baptist University, there’s no letter in the mix.
Askew is No. 1.
Well, actually, he’s No. 10. More on that in a minute.
The junior led the way with 19 points and Republic’s defensive adjustments shut down a second-half rally as the sixth-seeded Tigers outlasted and upset third-seeded Ava, securing a 52-39 victory in a Blue & Gold Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night at JQH Arena.
Republic, which held Ava to just one field goal in the fourth quarter after nearly squandering a 10-point halftime lead, will face Ozark in a Gold Division semifinal at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the same building. Republic, which fell to Greenwood in the division title game last year, is two wins away from the program’s seventh Blue & Gold championship and first since 2016.
Askew is a big part of the reason why the Tigers remain in title contention, as his team-high scoring effort helped Republic survive a 24-point outburst from Ava’s Andrew Dalton.
“He’s one of the best guards in the state and in southwest Missouri and he played like it tonight,” Brown said of Askew. “Feel blessed to have a good guard like that on our team. He makes the game easy for other people. Anytime you’ve got a good guard like Te, you feel like you’ve got a good chance in every single game.”
A year after platooning leadership duties with McMillin, Askew is transitioning into more of a de facto veteran role in his third varsity season. He’s one of the most experienced players on a young team that has just three seniors but has opened 6-3, with the losses coming to Rolla, Springdale (Arkansas) and fellow Gold Division title hopeful Bolivar by a combined 12 points.
“Brown used to call us 1-A and 1-B last year,” Askew said. “Now I just feel like it’s my job to take control of the team, get us formed into what we’re supposed to be at the end of the year.”
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Not that Askew needed any formal indication that it was his turn to be a leader, but he got a pretty obvious one from McMillin at the end of last season. After wearing jersey No. 2 as a sophomore, Askew now sports the No. 10 that formerly belonged to the all-state pick.
“After our last game of the season last year, he came up to me and said I was the most fun player he’s ever played with,” Askew said. “And then we just kept talking throughout the night and he said he wanted me to take his jersey.”
Askew didn’t hesitate.
“Didn’t even think twice,” he said.
Though he now wears McMillin’s old number, Brown was quick to limit any comparisons.
Askew projects as a bona fide Division I prospect who averaged 14 points and three assists per game as a sophomore, numbers that should only improve as he continues to gain experience.
“He’s his own guy,” Brown said. “He has his own story. I know I’m glad he’s in our program and I think people are going to start realizing how good a player he is. He’s been a good player in our program since he was a freshman and been one of the better players in our league since he was a sophomore. The sky’s the limit for him and I think people are going to start recognizing that.”
Held off the scoresheet in the first quarter, Askew netted 10 points in the second as Republic built a 30-20 halftime lead. But Dalton almost single-handedly erased that advantage during a monster third quarter in which he scored all but four of Ava’s 14 points, trimming Republic’s lead to 39-34.
But the Tigers made some adjustments to start the fourth quarter and closed things out with a 13-5 run over the final eight minutes, limiting Ava to a late three-pointer and two free throws.
“We had to go to a box and one and junk them up a little bit defensively,” Brown said. “I thought that really kind of slowed them down in their rhythm. Dalton’s a really good player – a great high-school player – and we had to do something to slow him down.”
Dalton had just one point in the final quarter as Republic dealt Ava its first loss of the season.
The Bears, ranked seventh among the state’s Class 4 teams, fell to 9-1 and will face Logan-Rogersville in a consolation game at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Hammons Student Center.
“We’re not a team that self-promotes,” Brown said. “We’re not a team that beats our chest when good things happen. We’re a program that worries about us and tries to do whatever we can to win each game. That’s all we were focused on – making sure we worried about us, not worried about everyone. We came in tonight expecting to win and we’re glad that we get to advance.”
