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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD – Ozark coach Mark Schweitzer wasn’t worried when his team allowed Republic to score the first 10 points of its Blue & Gold Tournament semifinal on Wednesday.
By the end of the night, it was the kind of start he could joke about.
“I’d have less gray hair before I turned 40 if these guys would put four quarters together,” Schweitzer said.
Ozark overcame yet another slow start to reach the Gold Division title game, handing Republic a 55-45 defeat at JQH Arena. The No. 2 seed will play top-seeded Bolivar at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the same building with a chance to win its 12th tournament championship and first since 2016.
One night after Logan-Rogersville held them to just four points in the first quarter, Ozark didn’t score any points until there were 80 seconds left in the opening frame. They trailed Republic 10-3 entering the second quarter, but responded with a 22-point effort to pull even at halftime.
They took their first lead during a back-and-forth third quarter and entered the fourth ahead 35-33. Republic never led again, as Ozark pulled away with 13 free-throws in a 20-point frame.
There were stretches of the final three quarters, Schweitzer said, where his players “at their best” – making the necessary adjustments to turn a 10-point deficit into a 10-point win.
“I thought we did a good job of being more deliberate in our half-court offense,” Schweitzer said. “We want to run. We want to play fast. We want to score a million points a game if we can, but once the team stops you from transitioning, you have to be intelligent. Intelligent teams take good shots. Shot selection is a big part of that. It’s not that the shots we took were just awful. I mean, they were makeable, but they didn’t go in. The shots that we took when we came back and had our runs in the second quarter, third and fourth quarter, we took some really good ones and we hit them. I just think that we’ve got to get better at that – just be playing smarter.”
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Many of those top-quality opportunities came off Republic turnovers, particularly during Ozark’s 14-4 run to close out the first half. For Republic, that proved to be the deciding factor.
“The majority of their baskets were all in transition because we got assists for their baskets,” Republic coach Tim Brown said. “They had nothing to with our defense. They had everything to do with our lack of execution, offensively, for a spurt there in the second quarter. I thought overall our team defense and rebounding was really good throughout the game. I think if you go back and look at it, the majority of their baskets came off turnovers and transition.”
Ethan Whatley (16 points), Colton Ballard (12) and Jace Whatley (10) all scored in double figures for Ozark, with Ballard going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
The Whatley brothers and Tyler Harmon combined to score 20 of Ozark’s 22 points in the pivotal second quarter that erased the results of the lackluster first – but not the memory of it.
“We have to get it out of the gate,” Ethan Whatley said. “This is the second night in a row that we’ve kind of got punched in the mouth. We have to start doing the punching. Coming out and scoring four last night and three tonight, we have to be the ones that give the punch and not receive it.”
Republic fell to 6-4 and will play Greenwood at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at JQH Arena for third place, a rematch of last year’s Gold Division title game that was won by the tournament hosts.
Freshman Brenley Hagewood had a game-high 15 pints for Republic, which only had one of its three rostered seniors available to play. Despite that, Republic was down 45-40 with 2:25 to go and made several key defensive stops, but came up empty on four straight possessions.
“You give us a chance to have a 45-40 game most nights and have four really good trips and still get stops on the other end and be able to play through that adversity, we’ll take it,” Brown said. “And we’re going to keep getting better. We’re young and our guys are going to play hard and we’re going to learn from this.”
Ozark, 8-4, will face an unbeaten group of Liberators led by Division I prospect Kyle Pock.
“They’re the one (seed) and we’re the two,” Schweitzer said. “Only one of us is going to be the one tomorrow night. It’s up to the kids. This is their moment. If they want it, they’re going to fight for it tomorrow night. I’m confident they will.”
