Republic Tigers split first two contests of 2022

State-ranked Springfield Catholic falls to healthy, hosting Republic squad in upset
 
Two seniors came back to the Republic lineup for the first time this season, and junior Ahlante Askew made sure they got a win in their return. Askew scored 30 points to lead Republic past state-ranked Springfield Catholic, 71-63, at home Friday.
The game was the first this season for seniors Will Fronabarger and Avery Moody, both of whom have been injured. Fronabarger’s pesky defense disrupted the Irish all night, and Moody’s presence inside helped the Tigers neutralize Catholic’s bigger lineup in knocking off the state’s fifth-ranked team in Class 5.
“We’ve gone toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in southwest Missouri all season long. We’ve not been able to get over the hump in some of those games, and we just beat a top-two (or) top-three team in southwest Missouri, coming off a great showing in the Blue & Gold, a team that just got chosen to be in the Tournament of Champions. I think it says a lot about our program, about our guys continuing to fight,” said coach Tim Brown.
After the teams played fairly even in the first quarter, the Tigers put together one of their best eight-minute stretches of the season in the second quarter. They outscored Catholic 21-5 to extend a 13-12 lead to 34-17 at halftime.
“We were very efficient offensively, then we just did some things defensively to mess with them a little bit,” said coach Tim Brown.
Devon McMillin drew the defensive assignment against Irish top scorer Zach Howell, and he shut Howell down in the first half. Howell had only five points at halftime.
With the Irish shut down, Askew scored 11 points in the second quarter and 18 in the first half to help the Tigers build a big lead. Republic eventually stretched its lead to 21 points at 48-27, but Catholic started to make a run at the end of the third quarter.
The Irish outscored Republic 18-4 to start the fourth quarter to cut the Tigers’ lead to one, but they never did take the lead.
“We had some faces in the lineup that we have missed, and I think our team’s really excited about where our basketball team’s going and what’s ahead,” he said. “Will’s a floor general ... then he allows us another ball handler. He’s able to take a lot of pressure off Ahlante. ‘Te was incredible (and had a great game,” and we were able to have a fresh ‘Te in the fourth quarter because he wasn’t having to handle it as much.”
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Earlier in the week, Republic suffered an upset loss at Springfield Central. The Tigers controlled the game throughout the first three quarters, but the Bulldogs went on a 22-4 run to come from behind and score the upset. The run included 18 consecutive points to start the fourth quarter. It was Republic’s first loss to Central since 2010.
Devon McMillin had one of the best nights of his career offensively. He finished with 20 points to lead the Tigers in scoring. No one else was in double figures