By Tyler F. Thompson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Blue Division semifinal between COC foes Republic and Willard proved to be a tale of two halves.
Republic couldn’t shake off Willard in the first two quarters, as Willard was strong from the perimeter. Republic led 30-28 at the break.
In the second half, Republic pulled away for a 54-37 win to advance to the Blue Division title game for a second straight season.
“We had some assignment errors,” said Republic head coach Tim Brown. “Their shooter, Nahmy [Kelley] stepped out and made some shots and we didn’t do a good job of rotating. They did some things against our matchup zone to give us some problems and we didn’t adjust well on the fly.”
But those “problems” didn’t last very long as Republic tightened up the defense throughout the second half as it allowed a mere nine points in 16 minutes of action.
“After halftime, we made the adjustment that we needed to,” said Brown. “Covered all of the guys who needed to be covered. Willard is a team that likes to shoot a lot of 3’s, and we knew that coming in. We talked to our guys about that.”
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Republic now has 29 top-4 finishes and seven championships to its credit after last year’s title run.
The Tigers jumped out 38-31 midway through the third, as James Rexroat owned the paint, scoring five consecutive points for the Tigers at a vital juncture as Willard continued to hang around.
The senior said his Tigers, when firing on all cylinders, will be a tough out come postseason play. After all, you can’t teach height and Republic certainly has that intangible covered.
“We have the biggest team we have had in years with a 6’7” center [junior CJ Uhl],” said Rexroat. “I think, if we play to our strengths, we can compete with anybody. That is the biggest thing. We have to move the ball. We can’t play the speedy game.”
Once Rexroat’s five points and Aslan Ebisch’s shots fell at the 2:32 mark of the third, the Tigers had the separation it needed, up 40-31, to close yet another Blue and Gold tourney win.
Entering the season, Republic focused on three chapters, Brown said.
“We said that we were going to break our season into three phases,” he said. “Pre-Blue and Gold; post-Blue and Gold; and then postseason. We still are in that phase of our season; our habits need to get better. But I feel that each game, we see the lightbulb go off for our guys.”
Republic now prepares for Nixa – whom they meet at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Great Southern Bank Arena.
Scoring for Willard:
Quinlan – 6
Boyer – 6
Huskisson – 1
Daughtery – 6
Kelley – 13
Dove – 5
Scoring for Republic:
Tan – 4
Douglas – 9
Hagewood – 8
Rexroat – 5
Ebisch – 16
Uhl – 6
Parks – 4
Bekemeier – 1
