Republic recognized its middle school girls basketball teams Thursday night during halftime of the JV contest against Nixa. Here’s what public address announcer Ken Kneirim had to say about the teams, in season summaries prepared by their coaches.
Coach Sara Barnhart on 7th Grade Girls Basketball
The A team went 14-2 overall. The season started with big wins over Carl Junction, Branson, Marshfield, Carthage, Neosho, and Willard. They took 2nd place in the COC Tournament against a tough Nixa team. However, we bounced back after a tough loss and gained two wins over Waynesville and Ozark. Our last home game we took on Nixa for the second time, but after a tough battle we came up short again. The last part of our season was the Branson Tournament. We met up with our nemesis-Nixa again in the championship game. The game was nothing short of what a championship game should be. With 15 seconds left, Kaityln Ragsdale drove to the basket and made it, giving Republic a 1-point lead to win the championship game, shattering Nixa’s previous undefeated record! Congrats on a great season!
The 7th grade B team went undeafted with a record of 12-0! They also started off the season with big wins over Carl Junction, Branson, Carthage, Neosho, and Willard. After Christmas break, the B team came back with a vengeance, beating Waynesville, Ozark, Nixa, and Catholic. To end the season, the B team played in the Branson Tournament where they beat Ozark and Branson again to advance to the championship game against Nixa. It was a hard-fought game between two good teams, but at the end, Republic came up on top to win the championship game 33-22!! Congrats on an undefeated season!
For this being my first year as the junior high coach, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls. They are not only excellent athletes, but most importantly, they are an amazing group of young ladies. The character of these 13 wonderful girls shined through when they came up with the idea to put our manager Rebecca Patrick into a game. Rebecca checked into the game with 2 minutes to go of our last home game and scored 2 points! It was a very special and touching moment, and I am glad I got to be a part of that with these girls. Again, congrats on a great season and I can’t wait to see what you all do in the future! The future is bright Lady Tiger Fans!!!
Coach Candy Blevins on 8th Grade Girls Basketball
“A” team went 10-5 overall and finished third in the COC. We had a rough start to the season with a close game vs. Carl Junction. But we came back with a vengeance, winning our next 6 games by large margins, bringing us into our COC tournament. There we met some very tough teams such as Nixa and Ozark, finishing third in the COC. We came back from that and finished strong in our season. This is a talented group of girls and they will be missed in the Middle School, I have enjoyed coaching them. I look forward to hearing about their future basketball careers as a Republic Lady Tigers.
“B” team went 8-4, having a very strong season. They started off strong with a big win over Carl Junction. They continued their winning streak with wins over Branson, Carthage, Neosho, Waynesville. There only losses gave from Willard and Ozark by only small margins. This team is all about team. This group works hard and plays well as a team. They play with true meaning of being a team. Again I look forward to hearing about their future basketball careers as a Republic Lady Tigers.