By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Down by seven points going into halftime Tuesday night, the Republic Tigers didn’t panic.
The Tigers used a 7-0 run in the third quarter, outscoring the host Parkview Vikings 21-11, on their way to a 60-57 nonconference victory.
“That was a huge road win for us against a very good team,” said Republic head coach Trevyor Fisher. “We got down early, but we kept battling. Our guys stuck together, were mentally tough and physically tough, and made enough plays down the stretch to get the win.”
Parkview junior Tyem Freeman led the Vikings out of the gate by scoring 10 first-quarter points to give the Vikings a 17-13 advantage. Then, the talented guard/forward brought down the house with a steal around mid-court before finishing with a thunderous dunk to open the second quarter for a 19-13 lead.
Republic made a little run and Parkview answered, outscoring the Tigers 9-5 in the last few minutes of the quarter, heading into the locker room with a 29-22 lead.
“We didn’t make a whole lot of adjustments (at halftime),” Fisher said. “You’ve got to give Parkview credit. They made shots in the first half, but missed some there in the second half. Our attention to detail on the defensive end was better in the second half. In turn, our offense turned out to be better as well.”
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And the key on the defensive end was holding Parkview’s NCAA Division I prospect, who had 14 points at halftime, to just two third-quarter points.
“He’s a very good player and got off to a hot start and made some shots,” Fisher said. “We kind of had to pick and choose what we were going to give up, and we were going to let him shoot it. We did a good job in the second half of kind of frustrating him, making him take perimeter shots.”
The Tigers’ defensive pressure gave the offense a spark in the third quarter as junior forward Broc Smith scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
“He did what good players have to do to beat good teams on the road,” Fisher said of Smith. “He was able to knock down some shots and really give us momentum in the second half.”
His third 3-pointer of the third quarter pulled Republic within 34-33 and Race Looney gave the Tigers their first lead of the game (35-34) with a jumper in the lane with 3:46 to go.
The two teams traded baskets before another highlight reel dunk by Freeman tied the game at 40 with 1:05 left in the third. But a free throw by Trent Rackley and baseline jumper from Jaden Duvall helped the Tigers to a 43-40 lead after three quarters.
“They came out and executed and hit open shots in the second half,” Parkview head coach Landon Cornish said. “In the first half, they had some looks and they weren’t dropping. In the third quarter, they hit some big shots and we didn’t guard people very well.”
Latre Morrison opened the fourth quarter with a put-back dunk to pull the Vikings to 43-42, and Tucker Thomas answered with a free-throw line jumper to put the Tigers back up by three (45-42).
A 3-pointer by Parkview senior guard Daru Elliott made it a new ballgame, tying it at 45 with 6:29 left in the game.
Smith scored on a reverse layup, and Freeman secured the lead (48-47) for the Vikings with a 3-pointer, before going on a personal 7-0 run to put Parkview up 52-47.
That’s when the Tigers got a much-needed spark.
Looney, a sophomore guard, scored the next nine points for Republic to give the Tigers a 56-53 lead; a lead they wouldn’t let go.
“He’s been struggling, as sophomores will do early on in the year,” Fisher said, “but when Jaden Duvall fouled out, he knew he had to step up and was able to score nine in a row, and gave us a huge lift that ultimately won us the game.”
Republic boys 60, Parkview 57
Nonconference game
REPUBLIC 13-9-21-17—60
PARKVIEW 17-12-11-17—57
REPUBLIC (3 -2) – Broc Smith 31, Race Looney 11, Tucker Thomas 8, Trent Rackley 4, Hunter Creek 2, Jaden Duvall 2, Drew McMillin 2.
PARKVIEW (4-3) – Tyem Freeman 25, Dontae Taylor 14, Gage Clark 6, Daru Elliott 5, Latre Morrison 4, Damascus Mason 3.
