Brock Yocum exploded for 28 points to help the Tigers bounce back from a tough loss Thursday with a 58-47 win over St. Mary’s Friday evening. Yocum made five 3-pointers, four of them in the first half. He had 14 points at the end of the first quarter, as Republic jumped on top early in the consolation bracket of the Rogersville tournament.
“I was getting open looks. My teammates were getting the ball and setting good screens,” Yocum says. “As a shooter, if you can knock a couple down, you start feeling it and things just fall your way.”
The Tigers scored the first ten points of the game and led 22-8 after the first quarter. It was 33-18 at halftime. Coach Trevyor Fisher says the Tigers didn’t let Thursday’s difficult loss to Helias hold them back on Friday.
“We came out in the first half and really took it to them on both ends. That’s the type of start we knew we had to have. A 4:30 game, consolation bracket–a lot of times it’s just comes down to who wants to win the game more.”
St. Mary’s cut the lead down to five points late in the third quarter, but never got any closer. Republic got enough defensive stops and hit enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The 28 points for Yocum was a career high. It was also a personal milestone, because it exceeded the career high for his older brother, all-stater Nick Yocum, by one point.
Brady McGill added 14 points for the Tigers. Tim Brazeal scored six, Tristan Ollar scored five, Mitch Coiner had three, Cameron Doke scored two, and Blake Fanning scored one.
Republic improves to 8-9. The Tigers will play in the consolation championship game Saturday at 3 pm.