Tigers hold court at home to start Central Ozark Conference play

The Republic Tigers jumped into conference basketball season with a couple of wins at home. Against Neosho in the Central Ozark Conference opener, Broc Smith led the Tigers with 23 points. Two nights later, in a game moved up a day because of potential winter weather, Republic got double-figure scoring from four players in a win over Carl Junction.39
Republic 67, Neosho
The Tigers used a first- half time out to turn the tide in what started as a close game against Neo- sho. Leading by just three points mid-way through the second quarter, coach Tim Brown called time out to talk over his team’s sluggish defensive start. After the time out, Republic held Neosho without a field goal for the remainder of the half, and for nearly five minutes into the third quarter.
“He was pretty fired up because he has high expectations for us and we weren’t doing our job defensively,” Broc Smith said of Brown’s attitude during the crucial time out. “We were letting [Neosho] get too many offensive rebounds, and that led to more points than they should have [scored].”
Republic outscored Neosho 43–18 over the final two-and-a-half quarters.
The Tigers got double- figure scoring from three players, led by Broc Smith with 23. Smith scored 16 of
those points from the free throw line.
Scoring Broc Smith 23, Drew McMillin 14, Tucker Thomas 11, Race Looney 9, Trent Rackley 8, Nate Woolford 2
Republic 72, Carl Junction 38
Republic hosted Carl Junction Thursday night as part of a “supernight” of boys and girls basketball that included six games in total. In the nightcap, the Tigers bolted out early and cruised to a 72–38 win over the Bulldogs.
Republic made eight three-pointers in the first half, including five in the first quarter. The Tigers led 26–7 at the end of the first period and 49–21 at halftime.
Carl Junction struggled to score against Republic’s defense, and got most of its points from 6’6” se- nior Trent Smith. Smith scored 13 of the Bulldogs’ 21 points in the first half, and ended the game with a team-high 19.
Broc Smith led Repub- lic in scoring for a second straight game, finishing with 20 points. Drew Mc- Millin and Trent Rackley had 13 points apiece, and Race Looney scored 10.
The Tigers improved to 11–3 overall, and 2–0 in the COC.
Scoring Broc Smith 20, Drew McMillin 13, Trent Rackley 13, Race Looney 10, Nate Woolford 4, Claye White 3, Joe Rexroat 3, Will Berry 3, Carson Neff 3