If there was any doubt whether this small, scrappy Republic Tigers team belongs in the top tier of the Central Ozark Conference, they put it to rest Friday night. The Tigers held a bigger, stronger Webb City team to 15 points in the second half and pulled away for a 49-42 victory at home. It was the 16th win in 18 games for the Tigers (16-4), and just the fifth loss of the year for the Cardinals (14-5).
From the opening tip, Republic took the ball right at the Cardinals and 6’8″ senior Preston Ellis. They didn’t stop when Ellis swatted several shots. Coach Trevyor Fisher says he liked the Tigers’ attitude offensively, even if their execution took a while to warm up.
“I thought our aggressiveness was pretty good, but we weren’t very smart once we got in there. When you play a big guy like that, you can’t just go in there and take off off one foot and throw it into their armpit,” says Fisher. “You’ve got to be able to jump stop and get them into the air, and then look to attack. It took us a while to figure it out, but at least we had that aggressive mindset from the start.”
When Mitch Coiner caught fire from the outside (he buried four three pointers in the game), the inside opened up and Treydon Rackley took advantage. Rackley finished with 17 points to lead the Tigers, to go along with Coiner’s 14.
Defensively, the Tigers frustrated the Cardinals all night. Ellis and his 6’7″ counterpart, Zach Davidson, got plenty of touches in the lane–but almost never had a clear path to the basket.
“Our whole key was not to allow them to throw it over the top, where all they had to do was just catch it and lay it in,” says coach Trevyor Fisher. “They may catch it close to the basket, but at least they have to score over the top of our defenders.”
Ellis finished with 24 points, but the Tigers held Webb City to just 41% shooting from the floor as a team. The Cardinals were 0-for-11 from three-point range. The Tigers also shot 41% from the field, but they made 5-of-11 three-pointers.
“We’re not one of the biggest teams around. Obviously one of our guys can’t stop somebody who’s 6’8″ and talented like he is, but…we all work together and focus on getting stops,” says Coiner.
In addition to Rackley and Coiner, the Tigers got nine points from Tristan Ollar, seven from Ty Stevens, and two from Cameron Doke.
Republic is 2-0 in the Central Ozark Conference. The Tigers go on the road to Neosho next Tuesday.
