Lady Tigers avenge loss to win district title, 10th in last 12 seasons

The first time the Republic Lady Tigers played Willard this season, almost nothing went right. The second time, with a district title up for grabs, almost nothing went wrong. Republic’s defense shut down Willard from the start in a 48-31 win over Willard to capture the Class 5 District 12 championship. It’s the 10th district title in the past 12 years for head coach Kris Flood and the Lady Tigers.“It’s a great group of kids. When it’s on the line, they play,” Flood said.
Republic allowed just two points in the first quarter to set the tone for the evening. The Lady Tigers led 10-2 at the end of one period and 21-11 at halftime. The lead had expanded to 12 points, 29-17, at the end of the third quarter, and Republic sealed the win at the free throw line to pull away in the fourth.
Senior Delaney Smith is one of the leaders of Republic’s defense, and she said after the game she and her teammates were ready to avenge their earlier loss at Willard.“I think we were all just pumped to get another matchup against them. We knew our game last time we didn’t really play very good or play very hard, and we knew what we had to do,” she said. “After the first quarter I looked at the scoreboard and I was like, ‘Wow, they only have two points. That’s crazy.”
Flood said he wasn’t surprised to see his players come out strong. “I thought we had a really good practice yesterday. It seemed like they were really dialed in and focused,” he said. “I could tell from the walk-through and pre-game, they were ready to go and ready to get after it. Several of them have gone through this, and they just really came out and put the top on them defensively. We did a very good job on the boards.”
Willard was still in the game as the fourth quarter began, despite their offensive struggles. But a three-pointer by Savana Powell-Goodman pushed Republic’s lead to double digits and opened the floodgates. Republic made 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Republic improves to 19-9. They advance to play Kickapoo (18-10) in the
state sectionals at Webb City Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Individual scoring: Kaemyn Bekemeier 24, Savana Powell-Goodman 14,
Kaitlyn Ragsdale 5, Jade Kirby 2, Jazzy Kirby 2, Chloe Burton 1