Youthful Hornets hit the learning curve at Republic

REPUBLIC – One bad quarter, and foul trouble to one key player we too much for Oroville’s boys basketball team to overcome Tuesday, Dec. 4, in a 58-37 loss at Republic.

Leading scorer Connor Hughes was relegated to the pine with three first half fouls and the Tigers used a 19-2 burst to build a 35-15 halftime lead.

“Republic has a well-rounded group of kids that can shoot the 3’s and play inside, which makes it hard to pick one player and stop him,” said Oroville coach Allen Allie. “Once again, it came down to one quarter.

Allie said he liked what he saw in the other three quarters — Republic held a 39-35 edge there — at both ends of the floor. And though no one reached double figures, every player scored.

“Each of them show great improvement in their game,” he said. “That’s what we want before we get into league play. Chase Nigg and Connelly Quick played well tonight, showing me what they can do and what we expect them to do.”

Lane Tietje paced the Hornets (1-2) with 7 points, with Gil Ildelfonso, Nigg and Hughes adding 6 each.

“These kids are young,” Allie said. “I see so much potential and growth every game.”

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