Lady Tigers open districts with win

Republic jumped to an early lead, and fought off repeated charges by Lebanon in the opening round of the district tournament at Joplin Saturday. The Lady Tigers pulled away in the second half for a 67-53 win.
The district quarterfinal featured two teams with 20 wins this season. Republic was seeded third and Lebanon sixth, indicating the overall strength of the field in Class 6 District 5. Five of the teams in the eight-team field (Nixa, Kickapoo, Republic, Ozark, and Lebanon) have 20 wins, with an average record of 20-5.
Republic scored the first seven points of the game, but didn’t manage to shake Lebanon until a 28-12 run in the second half got the Lady Tigers some breathing room. Kaemyn Bekemeier scored 23 of her 33 points in the first half to help Republic take a 30-27 lead into the halftime break. The Lady Tigers led 28-18 before Lebanon closed the half on a 9-2 run to draw closer.
In the third quarter, Lebanon pulled within two points of Republic for the first time since the opening minute of the game. But Republic responded by outscoring Lebanon 28-12 over the next several minutes, building an 18-point lead to take control. The lead was never less than 12 points the rest of the way.
“I thought the kids took care of the ball (during the 28-12 run),” said coach Kris Flood. We finally hit some shots in the second half. In the first half, we were our own worst enemy. We missed a couple of easy layups. We talked that maybe they were coming too quick – we were expecting them (to be contested).”
Republic improves to 21-6. Lebanon ends its season at 20-7. The Lady Tigers (3) will play Nixa (2) in the semifinals on March 1 at 7:30 pm. Nixa beat Joplin (7) in its Saturday quarterfinal, 78-54. Earlier this season, the Lady Eagles beat Republic in Nixa, 84-76.