Tigers return to win column at Waynesville after tourney stumble

Lady Tigers follow up 3rd place Pink and White Lady Classic tournament finish with road blowout victory
 
Republic finished the Blue & Gold Tournament in fourth place after a pair of losses before rebounding with a 61-41 road victory over Waynesville on Friday.
In the tournament semifinals, Willard defeated Republic 57-49. Republic held an 11-10 advantage after the first quarter, but a 15-4 Willard run in the second quarter left the Tigers trailing 25-15 at halftime. AJ Uhl scored a game-high 24 points, and a dunk by Keiran Govan in the fourth quarter narrowed the margin to 49-46 before Willard closed the game on a 6-0 run. Brody Blades added 10 points and Jin Villasica finished with eight.
Republic dropped the third-place game Tuesday to Glendale 66-65. Despite leading 64-59 in the final minute, the Tigers fell after Glendale’s Sylijah Davis made three free throws with less than three seconds remaining. Davis scored Glendale’s final seven points after a foul was called on a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.
“You’ve got to make free throws. You’ve got to finish plays on the defensive end and you can’t allow the end of the game to come down to the referees being involved,” coach Tim Brown said. “We always say control the ‘controllables’, and there were some ‘controllables’ that we didn’t completely control down the line.”
Uhl led the Tigers with 21 points and Govan added 16. Republic had trailed by double digits in the first half after a 10-0 Glendale run, but outscored the Falcons 22-13 in the third quarter to take the lead.
“We just dug ourselves in a hole and dug ourselves out,” Brown said. “Our kids stayed the course and put ourselves in a position to be in a pretty good spot.”
The Tigers moved to 7-3 on the season Friday by outscoring Waynesville 39-11 in the second half. Republic trailed 30-22 at halftime but used a 23-4 fourth-quarter run to secure the 20-point win. Blades scored a team-high 15 points, while Villasica hit four 3-pointers to finish with 14. Govan and Uhl added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“We missed a lot of really easy shots in the first half,” Brown said. “And when you’re coming off the week we came off of, I feel like we lacked some energy... we were unsuccessful in putting the ball in the hole. And unfortunately, if you allow yourself to feel sorry about that, it affects your defensive intensity.”
The Tigers held Waynesville to 11 points after halftime, including just four points in the final period.
“Fortunately, we’ve shown the ability to not panic. And we’ve been in this situation before,” Brown said. “We’d prefer not to be in this situation. But I think there’s some value in the fact where we’re able to overcome these.”

Girls basketball
Republic finished third in the Pink & White Lady Classic before opening the new year with a 62-29 victory at Waynesville on Friday.
The Lady Tigers moved to 7-2 overall after a week that included two tournament games and a road blowout. In the Pink & White semifinals, top-seeded Strafford defeated Republic 59-30. Republic trailed 13-2 early but limited the Indians in the second quarter to pull within 15-11 following baskets by Addie Brown and Kinley Kilburn. Strafford responded with a 14-0 run into the third period to pull away. Kilburn led the Lady Tigers with eight points, while Paelyn Gilmore finished with six.
Republic claimed third place the following day with a 50-46 win against West Plains. The Lady Tigers used a 10-0 run to take a 16-7 lead and held a 10-point advantage at halftime. West Plains narrowed the deficit to 46-44 in the final minute, but free throws by Kilburn and Charlie Hagewood secured the win.
Awbree Berning led the offense with 12 points. Gilmore added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Kilburn scored 10.
On Friday, Republic used a 29-point first quarter to beat Waynesville. Berning scored eight of her 13 points in the opening period as the Lady Tigers built a 21-point lead. Republic’s defense held Waynesville to single digits in every quarter and limited them to 13 points in the second half.
The Lady Tigers finished 12-of-13 from the free-throw line, including a 6-for-6 performance by Berning. Gilmore added 12 points.