One of the most successful seasons in Republic Lady Tiger history came to a sad and sudden end Wednesday night, in an 81-65 loss to Springfield Kickapoo in the Class 5 state sectionals. It was only the second loss of the season for the Lady Tigers, who finished 25-2 after spending much of the year as the top-ranked team in Missouri. Kickapoo avenged an earlier loss at Republic in advancing to the state quarterfinals.
The Lady Chiefs jumped ahead 11-2 early, but Republic fought back to get within a point at the end of the first quarter, 21-20. The Lady Tigers took a brief lead, but a critical stretch at the end of the second quarter put the Lady Chiefs back in control, even after Kickapoo stars Audrey Warren and Jordan Sanders went to the bench with three fouls apiece.
“We thought that might have been a window, and I’ll be darned if they didn’t flip it on us and they went on a little mini-run there,” says coach Kris Flood. “We had some turnovers in that little stretch that were kind of critical at that time.
“Give them a ton of credit. They really outplayed us. They looked like they were mentally ready to go,” Flood says. “We dug too big of a hole there early. We got down by double-digits going into halftime, and that forced us to scramble around. They were able to spread the floor on us and take advantage of some of their talent.”
The game was played at a break-neck pace in-between foul calls, with both teams racing up and down the floor and scoring quick baskets. The difference was that Kickapoo simply made a higher percentage of its shots than Republic–both from the floor and at the free throw line.
“We didn’t shoot free throws well tonight,” says Flood. “It just wasn’t in the cards. They just out-played us. They were better than us tonight.”
Kickapoo out-rebounded Republic 42-36. After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, the Lady Chiefs had only four turnovers in the second half, helping them pull away down the stretch.
Brooke Stanfield led Republic with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Taylor Fergen scored nine. Jordan Kabetske had eight. Alexis Ladwig and Brylee Argo scored seven each. Megan Branstetter scored three, and Allyson Barrett and Jade Sawyer each scored two.
Republic’s seven seniors — Argo, Carly Bayans, Logan Flood, Kabetske, Ladwig, Sawyer, and Stanfield — wrapped up their high school careers, having put together one of the best four-year runs in the program’s history. The Lady Tigers won 25 games in each of the past four seasons, going 25-2, 25-6, 25-4, and 25-2 during the seniors’ careers.
“I’ve gotten to know them not just from coaching them, but also off the floor. I’ve been around their families,” says Flood. “We’ve had a tremendous year: 25-2, the COC outright (championship), another district championship. I felt like at the beginning of the year there were some question marks, but… they rolled through the schedule. We lost two very good teams. They have nothing to hang their heads about.”