By Don Abernathy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Holding the slimmest of margins entering the final period against visiting Republic on Saturday, Nixa dug in and ratcheted up its defensive intensity.
The Eagles forced nine turnovers in the decisive fourth quarter (17 total for the game) and pulled away with a 53-47 victory over Republic in a make-up game postponed from Friday night.
“There’s no doubt, our defense in the fourth quarter was the difference in the game,” Nixa coach Brock Blansit said.
“I thought our half-court trap really helped us out, because we were struggling to guard them in their offensive set for a while. We got a couple turnovers and baskets and that put the game over the top for us in the last couple of minutes.”
Republic (12-1) had built a five-point lead with 3:06 left in the third quarter, when Nixa ran off 10-straight points to take a 41-36 lead early in the fourth period.
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Nixa junior Ty Kellis scored five of Nixa’s 10 points during the run and nine points in the fourth quarter as the Eagles pulled away.
“We started pressing, we got aggressive, and when you’re aggressive like that, turnovers are going to happen,” Kellis said.
“A big part of my role is getting rebounds and playing defense. Those are things you can control and you can’t always control when the shots are falling or not. My main goal is to get boards, but that opens up a lot of scoring opportunities, too.”
Republic senior Brenley Hagewood got injured just after Nixa regained the lead (37-36) with just over seven minutes left in the game and did not return.
“They did a good job with their pressure,” Republic coach Tim Brown said. “It hurt not having our best player out there during the last five or six minutes of the game. We had some guys in different spots against their pressure, but Nixa is a hard team to adapt to on the fly. We have to be able to make those adjustments.”
With Nixa leading 43-40, Kellis drove the lane, got fouled and made the basket, but missed the free throw. The Eagles, however, secured the offensive rebound to prolong the possession.
“They out-shot us 20-3 from the free throw line tonight, but we didn’t do a good job of blocking out after those free throws,” Brown said.
“They beat us to a lot of loose balls and offensive rebounds.”
The Eagles held a 47-44 lead when they reached the double bonus with just under a minute left, making just enough from the free throw line (4-for-9) down the stretch to secure the win.
Nixa senior Jaise Combs was the catalyst for the Eagles in the first half, scoring 13 of his game-high 20 points before the break.
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“I feel like this team needs me to be a scorer and that I need to be aggressive and take shots with confidence within the offense,” Combs said.
“We lost in the Blue and Gold, and Republic won our division, so we wanted to show who we are tonight.”
Kellis finished with 12 points and Combs grabbed a team-high seven boards for Nixa (11-1).
“Ty’s had a really good season for us,” Blansit said. “Any other year, he would probably be starting for us, because offensively he is one of our best players. But he comes off the bench and gives us a big spark. It’s always nice to have someone come off the bench who can score.”
Hagewood, senior Davin Parks, and sophomore Keiran Govan finished with 10 points each to lead Republic, while sophomore Brody Blades pulled down a game-high nine rebounds in the loss.
