Brooke Stanfield was nearly unstoppable in the first half. Jordan Kabetske was nearly unstoppable in the second half. Between them, they outscored Columbia Battle all on their own, combining for 46 points in a 71-44 win at the Maries County Bank Shootout in St. James.
Stanfield scored 16 points in the first half and 24 for the game to lead all scorers, while Kabetske scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half. Republic built a 40-14 halftime lead, despite the fact they weren’t shooting the ball particularly well, on the strength of their rebounding against a much larger Spartans lineup.
“I thought on both ends we did a decent job with it. Especially early on, they were usually one-and-out, and we were getting some second-chance opportunities,” coach Kris Flood says. “I thought the effort was there in the first half again. We got out and got off to another good start and put two quarters together. We held them to 14, then it seemed like we didn’t have our focus in the third quarter.”
Brooke Stanfield says the fast start has been a big part of the Lady Tigers’ success in the early-going.
“In our case, it’s really important because the third quarter seems to be our downfall lately,” she says. “It’s always good to get out and get ahead. Sometimes it gets in their heads and you’ll find out if a team’s just going to give up or…battle to get back in it. Those teams that fight back, they end up doing it in the third quarter. It’s something we’re going to have to work on.”
The third quarter was the only letdown in the game for the Lady Tigers, as Battle outscored them 18-12, cutting the lead to 20 points. But the game never got closer than that.
Taylor Fergen scored seven points for Republic. Alexis Ladwig had five. Made Appleberry and Carly Bayans scored four apiece. Brylee Argo, Allyson Barrett, and Madison Beckham each scored two.
Republic improves to 2-0. Battle is 0-1.
The Lady Tigers return to the court next Saturday in Columbia in the Norm Stewart Classic, when they’ll play Kirkwood.