It took more than a week, but the Republic Tigers finally got a chance to recover from their first loss of the season in the Blue & Gold Tournament. And they did it in a big way, flying out of the gates and sprinting past Bolivar 68-37 Friday.
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Dylan Bekemeier scored 15 points to lead four Tigers in double figures. Dillen Ramsey had 13, and Cody Geiger and Brock Yocum added 11 apiece.
Coach Trevyor Fisher says his team was ready to get back on the floor after losing to Nixa ten days ago, but the break was good for them physically, as well.
“I think it was good to refresh them a little bit, and get some aches and pains healed up a little bit,” Fisher says. “But I thought we’ve had some good practices leading into tonight, and they were ready to get out there and play again.”
Republic led 19-7 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 20 points by halftime, at 35-15. It was 55-32 heading into the 4th quarter.
For Fisher, there was plenty to be happy about on both ends of the floor.
“I think in spurts we were pretty active defensively, and did a pretty good job of guarding,” he says. “And then offensively, we got some easy baskets. We did a good job of throwing it inside. Dillen Ramsey had a great game, and we just attacked, for the most part, offensively.”
The victory improves Republic’s record to 10-1 this season. They open Central Ozark Conference play at Carthage next Tuesday.