On a night when Republic honored its seniors, three underclassmen picked up the scoring load for the Tigers in a 59-48 win over Branson. Republic handed Branson its only COC loss of the season, and beat the Pirates for the second time in two tries.
The night started with a ceremony to honor Republic’s seniors. Basketball players Grant Hancock, Ty Abney, Marcus Miller, Jake Fletcher and Derric Mertes were honored, along with cheerleading seniors Lauren Guichet, Destiny Warner, and Ericka Dye.
Coach Trevyor Fisher says his senior class helped pave the way for his success as a new coach.
“As a first-year coach, having five seniors like that really is a blessing,” says Fisher. “Guys that have been a part of the program, have won games, have been in big games, it really helps. They’re just a bunch of great kids and it will be a group that I’ll always remember, especially with it being my first team.”
Once the game began, the Tigers got out to a quick start, outscoring Branson 16-7 in the 1st quarter. Dylan Bekemeier scored seven of his team-high 14 points in that period.
Three underclassmen picked up the bulk of the scoring load, combining for 37 of the Tigers’ 59 points. In addition to Bekemeier, Republic got 12 points from Cody Geiger and 11 from Canyon Smith.
At halftime, Republic had extended its lead to 31-17, having held Branson’s Thatch Unruh to only four points.
But in the 3rd quarter, Unruh finally got rolling. He scored 12 points in the quarter, including three 3-pointers, to get Branson back in the game. The Pirates outscored the Tigers 19-15 in the 3rd, and it was 46-36 Republic heading into the final period.
Branson knocked the Republic lead down to six points with 6 1/2 minutes left, but from there the Tigers scored four straight to get the lead back to double digits and never looked back.
Republic improves to 22-4 heading into district play next week. They’ll open in the district semifinals on Thursday evening at Rogersville.