Despite a one-loss regular season and a #1 seed in the district tournament, the Republic Lady Tigers started defense of their state championship like a team with something to prove. The Lady Tigers bolted to an early lead and never looked back in a dominating 71-26 win over Reeds Spring in the district semifinals at Rogersville.
Republic scored 20 points in the first 5 1/2 minutes, jumping ahead 20-6. By the end of the 1st quarter, led by a red-hot Alice Heinzler, the Lady Tigers led 24-8. They outscored Reeds Spring 19-4 in the 2nd quarter, and led 43-12 at halftime.
“They’ve been focused ever since the last week,” says coach Kris Flood. “We’ve had some really good practices. It seemed like today, even being out of school. We had a little shoot-around. I really think they’re ready to go.”
Flood says being dropped behind West Plains in the statewide Class 4 poll, and being picked as an upset victim in a recent media coverage, has motivated the Lady Tigers.
“I won’t say it’s not in the back of their minds,” Flood says. “They’ve definitely got a little chip. We talked about it and it’s just one of those situations, I don’t know what else we can do. We’ve played the schedule we’ve played, and not to take anything away from West Plains, but the kids feel like they’re gonna go out and give it their best shot and try to defend their title — at least defend their district title.”
Heinzler had 12 points in the 1st quarter and 17 for the game, despite sitting out most of the 2nd half. No other Lady Tigers were in double figures, but everyone on the team scored. Tori Taylor had eight points, and Sarah Kreul had seven. Alex Botkin, Kayla Bartelsmeyer, Micah Mansker, and Michayla Shanks had six apiece. Lindsey Carlson and Bailey Cornelison had four points each. Jade Sawyer had three, and Rachel Allen and Katherine Hankins scored two.
The lone dark spot for the Lady Tigers was an injury suffered to point guard Alex Botkin, who left the game in the 2nd quarter after she hit the back of her head on the floor while trying to take a charge. Her status for Friday is uncertain.
Republic advances to play the winner of West Plains/Rogersville. West Plains led Rogersville at halftime of the second semifinal 17-4. The Lady Zizzers are ranked #2 in the state, and Republic is currently #3.
The Republic Lady Tigers put an exclamation point on their regular season with a 70-22 thrashing of Springfield Glendale Wednesday. Republic never allowed more than seven points in a quarter, as they ran their record to 24-1 heading into the playoffs.
The Republic Lady Tigers dug their way out of a 1st-half hole caused by cold shooting, but couldn’t overcome the hot shooting of Haylee Beard and Hannah Cook in a 53-46 loss at home. The loss is the first of the season for Republic (21-1), and ends a program-wide 83-game win streak to start the season.
Just when Nevada seemed to be gathering momentum down the stretch in a major upset bid, Michayla Shanks nailed back-to-back three-pointers to get Republic over the hump in a 64-54 win. Sarah Kreul’s big 2nd half helped secure the victory for the Lady Tigers, who remain undefeated on the season.
Senior Sarah Kreul also stepped up in the 2nd half, scoring 14 of her game-high 18 points after halftime. She hit 10 of 13 free throws to help seal the victory for the Lady Tigers. Alice Heinzler had nine and Alex Botkin scored seven.
Republic drained 11 three-pointers, including six by senior Alice Heinzler, on the way to a 70-21 win over Joplin at the Nevada Classic Monday. Heinzler had 17 points by halftime, and finished with a game-high 28. By the time the game was over, eight different Lady Tigers had scored.
Sophomore center Tori Taylor had her best offensive game of the season, scoring ten points. Flood says Taylor still has room to make an impact on the inside on an under-sized team.
With a record of 26-6, Buffalo was determined to come into Republic and compete with Republic on equal footing. And they did, until unforced errors caused the momentum to swing back Republic, who went on to a 25-16 25-15 victory.
In addition to her solid service performance in game two, Brandy Glessner had 12 digs to lead the defense for Republic. Emily Preston and Michayla Shanks had two blocks apiece. Lexi Birlew had seven kills. Sarah Kreul had 12 assists.
Who says you need lots of depth on the bench to succeed in basketball? Not the Republic freshman girls. They overcame an early injury to go undefeated, even though their roster was down to just five players. 
Thirteen Republic Tigers will compete in track and field sectionals after a big day at the district meet in Carl Junction Saturday. The Tigers were led by TJ Ray and Ryan Way, who each captured a district championship, and by Kavosha Edmunds, who qualified for sectionals in three events. Republic qualified athletes for sectionals in 12 events total.
