Kaemyn Bekemeier's high school basketball career ends as one of Republic's all-time greats

BOLIVAR — Republic head coach Kris Flood can't help but smile when he thinks back to the first time he watched Kaemyn Bekemeier play as a freshman on the junior varsity team.

Already knowing that she could be something special, Flood watched Bekemeier dominate for two quarters and show that she had no business being among them. She was a varsity player and he already knew she was going to be a star.

Flood told the junior varsity coach that her time with them was done and that she would be a starter on the varsity team shortly after.

"I said 'never again,'" Flood remembered on Saturday night. "I said 'you're not going to have her anymore.'"

Since then, Bekemeier has grown into someone who will go down as one of the greatest players to come through the Republic girls' basketball program, if she's not the greatest.

Her magnificent career in a Lady Tigers uniform came to an end in a 50-43 Class 6 state quarterfinal loss to Raytown at Southwest Baptist in Bolivar.

Bekemeier, the lone senior on the Republic roster, exited the gym to a student section chant of "thank you, Kaemyn."

"It was a great season and it's something that we all will forever cherish," Bekemeier said. "Being the lone senior made me feel special, it made me feel like a role model. Going out the way we did wasn't what we wanted but we did a lot that I think that a lot of people didn't think we were going to do."

The Missouri State signee's career ends while owning seemingly every record in the Republic record book. She set the school's career scoring record during her junior year and finished with 2,267. She also has the most rebounds in Republic history and set the single-season scoring record multiple times during her career.

A McDonald's All-American nominee, Bekemeier helped lead the Lady Tigers to a pair of district championships in four years and also treated those in attendance to many spectacular single-game performances while she wore the orange and black.

"I'm just going to remember the love and the family bond," Bekemeier said. "This is family and I'm just going to cherish these last few months of high school before I make it over to MSU."

Saturday's quarterfinal loss marked the end of Flood's 24th season on the Republic sideline. He led the Lady Tigers to a pair of state championships in 2004 and 2012 along with a fourth-place finish in 2019.

Flood's coached some great players throughout his career. Not many will know better than him when it comes to where Bekemeier ranks among the best.

"She's one of the best ones that we've ever had come through," Flood said. "We've had some different types of players and different types of kids and she's definitely left her mark on Lady Tigers basketball. You don't get too many opportunities to coach an individual like that and it was truly a pressure these last four years to have her as a part of our program."

The mark left by Bekemeier, Flood said, will go far beyond the records that will likely stand for quite some time.

A teacher at Republic Middle School, Flood said he already has the next generation of Lady Tigers coming up to him saying that they want to be like Bekemeier someday and break her records.

"It's definitely encouraged them," Flood said. "It's been fun. One of the things I'll cherish the most is that I had the opportunity to coach her for four years and with her sticking close, I'm going to get to continue to see her grow because I really think she will at Missouri State."

Bekemeier stood outside the team's locker room moments after the team's loss. There were no tears in her eyes and she still wore a smile. The finality of her high school career hadn't hit her yet.

She knows that she has a lot of basketball ahead of her when she moves down the road to Great Southern Bank Arena to play for Beth Cunningham and the Lady Bears. As one of the prized prospects Missouri State has coming in, Bekemeier should have an opportunity to make an impact for the Lady Bears as soon as her freshman year.

But when the realization of the end of her high school career hits her, she knows it's going to hit her hard. She'll still smile knowing the mark she left on the program and the memories she made along the way.

"There's not a lot of words to explain it," Bekemeier said. "It was an opportunity that's just once in a lifetime and I'm grateful that I was able to have this community behind me with the God-given talent that I was given. All the glory goes to him for just what I was able to do."

Kaemyn Bekemeier's Republic records

• Single-game points (48)

• Single-game free throws made (18)

• Single-game field goals made (18)

• Single-game rebounds (23)

• Single-season scoring (674)

• Single-season 3-pointers made (68)

• Single-season field goals made (233)

• Single-season free throws made (150)

• Career points (2,267)

• Career field goals made (800)

• Career free throws made (549)

• Career rebounds (896)

• Team 3-pointers in a game (14)

• Team free throw percentage in a season (75%)

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Kaemyn Bekemeier goes down as one of Republic's all-time greats