Inductees

Had a Hollywood producer cast them for a basketball movie, the opening scene probably would resembled an old western and high-noon showdown, complete with dead stares.

And why not? As the curtain rose on the 1993-1994 basketball season, the Republic High School Lady Tigers were on a mission. After all, just months earlier, Republic’s Cinderella run ended in a heart-breaking, two-point loss in the Class 3 state championship game.

“They were focused,” then-Republic coach Dave McQuerter said. “You know, everybody likes to win. But this was a team that really, really despised losing.”

Sure enough, the Lady Tigers raged their way to the state title, becoming one of the most talented teams in state history. And it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the 1994 Republic High School Girls Basketball Team with the Class of 2019.

The honor is part of the Hall of Fame celebrating its Silver Anniversary, and what a year it was for Republic, which finished 31-1, the best record of any girls state champion that season. In fact, its only loss was an early, regular-season defeat against Kickapoo, the eventual state runner-up in Class 4.

The team featured senior shooting guard Cindy Wise, point guard Tori Mooneyham, guard Melissa McGill, forward Vicky Smith and center Ashley Fry as the usual starting lineup.

Republic also had a terrific bench of Brandy Dipper, Glenna Mooneyham, Krista Dake, Stacey Evans, Nikki Harrington, Amber Kile and Julie Sanders. Wise eventually earned First Team All-State honors, while Smith received a Second Team All-State selection.

Their fast-break offense and suffocating press defense often wore out opponents halfway through the second half. For instance, they won the state semifinal 73-37 and, in the championship game, posted a 66-43 final against Chillicothe.

“We were all motivated. We had felt like something we had (in March 1993) was taken away from us,” 1995 All-Stater Tori Mooneyham said, “and we were determined to get back there and get the job done.”

McQuerter was in only his second season at Republic, having previously coached at Greenfield. In his interview in the spring of 1992, after that Republic team won 20 games and a district title before graduating four players, he figured he was walking into a rebuild.

“I remember the (athletic director) saying, ‘We may not be very good at first, but we’ve got some young girls coming up who could play pretty well,’” McQuerter said.

Yet the 1993 team surged despite being picked to finish fourth in the Central Ozark Conference, and the 1994 team was a preseason No. 3 in the COC after three seniors had graduated.

Prognosticators may not have realized the chemistry of the Republic team, or the fire in their collective belly.

“After we lost in 1993, Coach made a video of the season,” Smith said. “For home games, we’d go to Subway, then Tori’s house and watch the video (and found motivation.) And I felt like we were successful because we were so close and good friends.”

Among McQuerter’s challenges in preseason was finding replacements for three seniors who had graduated, but Republic did immediately. Tori Mooneyham moved into the role of point guard following the departure of All-State Second Team selection Kerry Ellis. McGill stepped in at another guard, and Smith was promoted to starting forward. Fry was only a sophomore.

McQuerter credits a southwest Missouri power for playing a huge role, too.

A COC rival, Marshfield had reached the Final Four every year between 1988 and 1992, winning four state titles. The 1993 Republic team ended Marshfield’s run.

In 1994, the teams met twice in the regular season, including when Republic was ranked No. 1 and Marshfield No. 2 – with Republic winning in overtime in Marshfield after trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter. Republic beat Marshfield again in the state quarterfinals.

“The quarterfinal game was the state championship game in our minds,” Tori Mooneyham said.

That game drew a standing room-only crowd, with an overflow crowd watching on a TV in the nearby cafeteria.

“Marshfield was probably the best team in the area. They had the history,” McQuerter said. “My practices used to include – even though we didn’t play them for a month – their press. If we were going to go on, we had to go through Marshfield.”

The journey led to some fame for the Lady Tigers, who were honored with parades, pep rallies at local elementary schools and were sought after for autographs.

Said Smith, “It was just a blessing playing for a small town.”