Republic wins Bolivar Tournament, Brown earns 300th victory

Republic capped a four-game week with a tournament championship and a coaching milestone, winning the Bolivar Liberator Tournament and giving head coach Tim Brown his 300th career victory.
The Tigers went 3-0 at the tournament, finishing with a 53-47 win over host Bolivar in Saturday’s championship game after edging Helias 57-56 in the semifinals Friday. The run followed a narrow home loss earlier in the week to state-ranked Hillcrest.
Republic (12-6) secured the title Saturday in a game marked by constant momentum shifts. The Tigers and Liberators combined for 10 lead changes and six ties, and neither team led by more than seven points.
Brody Blades scored 22 points to lead Republic, knocking down five three-pointers. Keiran Govan added 16 points, scoring in every quarter and finishing most of his attempts in the paint. Republic shot 20-of-44 from the field and went 7-of-11 at the free-throw line.
Bolivar hit eight three-pointers, four from Wyatt Campbell, who led the Liberators with 17 points. Matthew Giglio added a late three to pull Bolivar within four in the final minute, but Trenten Coleman converted two free throws to close the game.
“It sounded like a typical Republic-Bolivar basketball game in this gym, and that’s why we were excited to get a chance to play the host school on their home court,” Brown said. “It just creates such a great atmosphere and environment... each team made great plays and went through adversity and went through highs and lows and we were able to say in this one, we made more plays than they did at the end.”
The championship came less than 24 hours after Republic’s comeback win over Helias in the semifinals. Slater Howard scored all 12 of his points in the final 4:16, hitting four three-pointers, including the go-ahead shot with nine seconds remaining in a 57-56 victory.
Republic trailed by as many as 16 points in the third quarter before closing the period on a 16-6 run. Howard’s late shooting erased multiple Helias leads in the fourth.
Howard finished with 12 points, all in the fourth quarter. Blades scored 14 points, hitting four three-pointers, and AJ Uhl added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Helias was led by Logan Hillman, who scored 28 points.
The semifinal win marked Brown’s 300th career victory. He downplayed the milestone after the game.
“Tonight’s about these guys making plays, and that’s a big win for our program,” Brown said. “But (I’m) just thankful to all of our players that have contributed to that in this program and other programs.”
Republic opened the tournament Thursday with an 88-35 win over the Missouri Warriors, jumping out to a 29-7 lead and scoring 50 points by halftime. Twelve Tigers scored in the game. Braxton Lundberg had a career-high 14 points, Greyson Fleetwood added 12, and Keiran Govan led the team with 15.
Earlier in the week, Republic dropped a 50-47 decision at home to Hillcrest. The Tigers erased a double-digit deficit and tied the game in the fourth quarter but came up empty on the final possession. Govan led Republic with 16 points, and Howard added nine.
Republic last won the Liberator Tournament in 2023.