Carl Junction’s Cody Vogt took an in-bound pass in the backcourt, drove past the Republic defense, and laid the ball in at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 41-39 win in overtime Friday at Carl Junction. Vogt’s bucket was one of the few Carl Junction baskets by someone other than Aaron Nelson, who lit up the Tigers for 30 points, including 18 in the second half.
Vogt’s final bucket was a crazy ending to a sloppy game that Republic had led most of the way. The Bulldogs’ final possession came after Republic had nearly gotten a defensive stop, with both Brady McGill and Blake Fanning diving on the floor to chase the loose ball. Somewhere in the middle of the scramble, the officials ruled that Carl Junction briefly grabbed the ball and awarded coach Skip Brock a timeout.
Vogt took advantage of the final opportunity, capitalizing on a defensive breakdown by the Tigers.
“Whoever’s guarding the ball has to keep the ball in front,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “We said you’ve got to be in the gaps. You can’t let the guy get all the way to the paint. You’ve got to make him kick and then contest the shot, and sure enough, he gets all the way to the basket.
“It’s the last thing we talked about right before we came out of the timeout. Someone plug the gap. We’ve got to have someone take a charge–whatever it takes to win the game and get a stop–and we didn’t execute.”
The Tigers were up and down all night, continuing their trend of uneven play during the first five games of the season. They jumped on top 12-6, but let Carl Junction climb back into it with a strong second quarter. The Tigers built a seven-point lead at one time, 23-16, before the Bulldogs evened the score again 35-35 at the end of regulation.
Fisher says the difficult loss was the ending Tigers deserved after a lackluster performance.
“We didn’t decide to play hard until there were about two minutes left in regulation. Bottom line, they deserved to win,” Fisher says. They out-toughed us. They out-muscled us. Every way you look at it, they deserved to win the game.”
The Tigers looked good early behind the post play of Tim Brazeal. Brazeal had eight points in the first quarter, as Republic fed him the ball in the crease of Carl Junction’s zone defense. When Carl Junction’s defense adjusted, it was Brady McGill who picked up the slack. McGill had ten points after halftime, as he and Brazeal finished with 12 points apiece.
Brock Yocum added ten points, including the Tigers’ only three-pointer of the night. Blake Fanning scored four points and Ty Stevens had one.
Fisher says the Tigers’ defense was a the upside of a disappointing night.
“For the most part, defensively, we kind of keep ourselves in games with it. We’re still not at the level that we need to be. Way too many breakdowns,” he says. “We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, but at least our defense gave us a chance. It can be a lot better. The rebounding part of it is huge. I was pretty disappointed in our toughness.”
Republic falls to 3-2. They host Parkview next Tuesday.
On Monday night, last year’s boys’ state championship team will be honored before the start of the girls’ varsity game against Waynesville. Republic will unveil the new championship banner after the JV game ends.