Republic Earns Seventh Blue & Gold Title

The Republic Tigers won four games straight on their way to a Blue Division championship at the Blue & Gold Tournament last week. The Tigers entered the tournament as the second-seeded team in the Blue Division. They beat Stockton, Hillcrest (7), Hartville (3), and Sparta (5) to claim their seventh Blue & Gold championship and first since 2016.

Round 1: Republic 74, Stockton 32
The Republic Tigers opened Blue Division play with a matchup against unseeded Stockton and dominated the game from the beginning. Republic led 24-3 after the first quarter and then 49-9 after the first half. Republic won 74-32 and was led in scoring by Ahlante Askew with 17. All his points came in the first half.

Round 2: Republic 62, Hillcrest 55
Republic's round two matchups came against the seventh-seeded Hillcrest Hornets, a team the Tigers had beaten two weeks prior by a score of 77-55. Hillcrest led after the first quarter 19-17 but Republic held the lead going into the second half, 30-28. Republic came out hot in the third quarter leading 44-34 and ended the quarter on a 12-2 run. The third quarter was enough for the Tigers and Republic won 62-55. The Tigers were led in scoring by Ahlante Askew with 23 and Brenley Hagewood with 16.

Semifinals: Republic 51, Hartville 45 (OT)
Republic led early, but trailed by five points with 1:14 remaining. They overcame that late deficit with the help of a long three-pointer by Askew just ahead of the buzzer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, Republic outscored Hartville 10-4. Askew finished with 22 points to lead the team.

Championship: Republic 51, Sparta 46
Republic made its fourth Blue & Gold finals appearance in seven years, this time against underdog Sparta, which had beaten Ozark (4) and Bolivar (1) on the way to the final round. Sparta led 10-7 after a hard-fought defensive quarter, but Republic came out with an offensive spark in the second quarter and led 24-23 going into halftime. Republic's defense stepped up and held Sparta to only three points in the third quarter and took a 34-26 into the fourth.

"Anybody that knows anything about Republic basketball knows that we guard and will do what we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win," said coach Tim Brown. 'That's what we pride ourselves on, and we're better offensively (this season), but I think the defensive side of the ball is what won us the game tonight."

The Trojans fought back, and when their star player, Jacob Lafferty, threw down a fast-break dunk, Sparta cut the lead to one, 42-41. But Sparta did not come any closer, as Republic made 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch to put the game away. The Tigers were led by Ahlante Askew with 22 points. The victory gave Republic its seventh Blue & Gold title, and its first since 2016. The championship is also Coach Tim Brown's first as a coach, and put him into a small group of coaches who have won the tournament as both a player and a coach. He won two championships as a player at Logan-Rogersvillle.

Ahlante Askew finished the tournament with 84 points. He scored 222 points during his four Blue & Gold Tournaments, putting him in the top 20 all-time.