Republic finishes 3rd in home tournament

Republic basketball boys opened with a big win, suffered a setback in the semifinals, but rebounded for a third-place finish in the Republic Invitational with a 70-64 win against Rolla, Saturday.
The Tigers started the season in blowout fashion, making 12 three-pointers in a 76-30 win against West Plains. Four players — Brenley Hagewood (17 points), Ahlante Askew (15), Gunner Ellison (12), and Aslan Ebisch (11) – scored in double figures. West Plains never managed to score more than 10 points in any quarter, but coach Tim Brown said there was still room for improvement.
"Overall for the first nine minutes of the game, then the first five minutes of the second half, I thought we really tried to defend. I thought we were able to reward ourselves during that time with some run-outs, and we were able to make a lot of shots," he said. "So overall, I thought it was a good night for us. For about half the game, I thought we really did a good job of being sound defensively and playing Republic defense."
In the tournament semifinal, Republic grabbed an early lead but couldn't hold on, losing to Springdale, Ark., 59-46. Springdale outscored Republic 28-12 in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs scored the first 10 points of the game before Republic scored 14 in a row to take the lead. The teams went back and forth the rest of the night, before Springdale's final rally put them over the top.
Saturday afternoon, the Tigers got big performances from guards Askew and Hagewood to take third place in the tournament with a 70-64 win against Rolla. Askew scored 29 points and Hagewood added 22.
Republic led by as many as 13 points in the first half, and took a 10-point lead into halftime, 40-30. Rolla whittled away the lead and got as close as six points in the second half, but never any closer.
Republic finished the tournament with a 2-1 record. Bentonville, Ark., won the tournament championship by defeating Springdale. Park Hill South won the fifth-place game against Liberty, and Ozark beat West Plains in overtime for seventh place.