Barrage of Threes Sinks Lady Tigers

Lee’s Summit West made nine three-pointers — seemingly all of them at key moments — to hand Republic a loss in its season opener at home Monday, 61-58. Five of the Lady Titans’ three-pointers were in the second half, as they overcame a 25-23 halftime deficit, built an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then held off a late Republic charge.

Republic had a chance to tie on its last possession of the game, but a three-point attempt by Brylee Manes at the top of the key was off the mark. Manes finished with 19 points to lead all scorers. Megan Branstetter added 13 points. Avy Powell-Qualo had 12. Morgan McGuire and Halli Bartelsmeyer finished with seven points apiece.

Kanzie Beeler led Lee’s Summit West with 14 points, including four three-pointers—three of them in the second half. Ashton Campbell added 13 for the Lady Titans.

Republic controlled the first half, crashing the boards and winning the rebounding battle against a taller Lee’s Summit West lineup. But in the second half, Lee’s Summit West asserted its size and capitalized on second-chance points.

“They had a couple of putbacks there on offensive rebounds, but we didn’t have a body on her,” Flood says. The biggest rebound for the Lady Titans came when Cayla Vertreese forced up a shot from the corner with her team leading by a point in the final minute. A Lee’s Summit West teammate grabbed the weak-side rebound to keep the possession alive, and the Lady Titans eventually hit two more free throws to force a hurried three-pointer at the other end on Republic’s final possession.

“Give them a ton of credit. They hit nine threes, and it seemed like every single one of them came at a critical moment,” Flood says. “Just a dagger in the heart. We’d get ahead and bam, they’d hit a three and were right back in front.”

Republic falls to 0-1. The Lady Tigers host Belton Tuesday night.

The JV Lady Tigers won 45-37 to improve to 1-0. Kaitlyn Ragsdale led the team with 13 points.

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