Joplin shows resiliency in season-ending loss to Republic
Mar. 3—REPUBLIC, Mo. — Jeff Hafer emerged from the locker room and had nothing but positive thoughts addressing his 2020-21 group.
"It's been a weird year," Hafer said. "Our practice looked different with all the different things you have to pay attention to now, so I look back at it and think, 'Wow.' We had a lot of things that were difficult to deal with, but these guys came through. They continued to stay together through it. We had a lot of good times this season too. I'm proud of this team."
After overcoming a slow start to the game, Joplin matched Republic point-for-point throughout the rest of the contest. But a double-digit first quarter cushion proved to be enough for the Tigers (22-4) to earn a 80-72 victory in the Class 6 District 12 semifinal game on Tuesday night at Republic High School.
"The whole game started slow, and it was three minutes before a bucket was scored," Hafer said. "That got us stagnated on offense, then they got going. That was kind of the difference in the game. We battled back and forth. I was proud of our kids late. They really worked hard to try and get back into the game, give ourselves an opportunity. That's hard to do at this time of the year when things aren't going great to continue to fight. I was really proud of them for that."
Joplin (12-13) will graduate Fielding Campbell, Dominick Simmons, Micah Bruggeman, Malik Williams, Carson Wampler and ZayShon Hughley.
"I love our six seniors and our senior manager (Jake Saunders)," Hafer said. "Those guys are great for our program because they are about nothing but our program. They are completely unselfish. I really appreciate them and I will have fond memories of them."
After both teams didn't score for the first 21/2 minutes, Joplin finally drew first blood thanks to a Dante Washington baseline triple at the 5:37 mark. After that point, Republic seemingly couldn't miss from the field in the latter stages of the first quarter.
Sharpshooter Drew McMillin, who made a name for himself in Southwest Missouri with his 61-point outing on Jan. 28 against Camdenton, connected from deep three times to give the Tigers a 17-7 first quarter lead. The senior scored 11 of Republic's points in the first frame.
"Drew is a really good player," Hafer said. "He was really good for four years. He was really good tonight."
The Eagles and Tigers exchanged scores the rest of the game. Joplin inched as close as five points in the third quarter after a 10-3 burst, but Republic responded with a 5-0 run to make the score 50-40 at the 2:25 mark.
Sophomore Dante Washington pulled the Eagles within 10 after a pair of triples late in the third quarter, but McMillin drained a 3 from the top of the circle at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 57-47 advantage.
Joplin got as close as seven points twice in the closing minutes, but Republic's first-quarter outburst loomed too large to overcome down the stretch.
McMillin finished with a game-high 31 points, hitting five triples. Tyson Young and Ahlante Askew chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Tigers advanced to the district final game and will host Kickapoo at 7 p.m. Friday
Always Wright finished with a team-high 25 points to lead the Eagles. Washington added 17 points and All Wright had 16.
Hafer likes the nucleus of talent he could have back next year, with four of his five starters from Tuesday's game consisting of two juniors, one sophomore and one freshman.
"The pieces are there," Hafer said. "They have the experience under their belt. A lot of underclassmen got to play a lot of minutes, play a lot of varsity this year. That pays dividends as you get older. You can't help but grow and be excited about some of the guys coming back, what their potential is."
