The Lady Tigers overcame a case of early jitters and pulled away from Ozark for a 60-42 win on the road Monday night.
Brooke Stanfield scored 23 points in one of her best offensive performances of the year, and Alexis Ladwig broke the school record for three-pointers in a season. She made four of them, bringing her season total to 60. The old record was 58, sent by Kristin Gooden in 1992 and tied last year by Michayla Shanks.
“The kid’s come up with some big threes when we needed it. She’s just a real consistent shooter, a very pure shooter,” says coach Kris Flood. “It doesn’t take much to get her shot away. She doesn’t hesitate–a real quick shot. For her to do that tonight is an accomplishment to her and…the group of kids around her, getting her the ball and finding her in the spot where she can hit them.”
The game didn’t start well for Republic. Ozark pounded the ball inside and used second-chance points after offensive rebounds to grab an 11-7 lead after the first quarter.
The game stayed close until midway through the second quarter. That’s when Republic picked up its defensive intensity and started to string together baskets. Ladwig hit a couple of threes, Jordan Kabetske created turnovers on the perimeter, and Stanfield was there to finish a few fast breaks for the Lady Tigers. They outscored Ozark 19-6 in the quarter and led 26-17 at halftime.
The momentum continued in the third quarter as Republic stretched its lead to more than 20 at one point. It was 47-29 heading into the fourth quarter. Coach Kris Flood says the difference from the first quarter was simply a matter of intensity and focus for Republic.
“The main difference was about four minutes into the second quarter, we decided to turn the intensity up a little bit defensively. We created some steals, got them to turn the ball over a few times. We were able to finally go down and convert some baskets,” he says.
Ladwig attributes the slow start partially to nerves — both for her and for her teammates.
“I think we were a little nervous coming into it because everyone knows Ozarks is coming because they want to beat us,” she says.
It didn’t help that she knew before the game that she needed just three three-pointers to break the record.
“I knew I had to get 58…and I was nervous…but then I figured I can either do it now or do it in the two other games we have,” she says. “It feels really good because last year I didn’t really see the floor much,, so whenever I came in this year, I knew I had to do something to prove myself.”
In addition to Stanfield’s 23 points, Republic got 12 each from Ladwig and Jordan Kabetske. Jade Sawyer scored four. Carly Bayans, Allyson Barrett, Logan Flood, and Brylee Argo had two apiece. Taylor Fergen added one.
Republic improves to 21-1 this season. They are now 6-0 in the Central Ozark Conference. It’s likely that when they play at Branson on Monday, it will be a battle of undefeated teams with a league championship on the line. Branson has one other conference game left, Friday night against Carthage.
Republic Tiger Sports will broadcast Monday’s game against Branson.