‘The sky’s the limit’: Freshman class contributing to Blue Devils’ success faster than Douglas expected

QUINCY — It isn’t supposed to be this easy.

Oh, sure, a handful of basketball players have done well during their freshman season at Quincy High School, but only six have scored more than 70 points as a freshman — Bruce Douglas, Jack Kramer, Dennis Douglas, Jeff Klingler, Parker Bland and Jeremiah Talton.

But the idea of giving three freshmen plenty of varsity minutes at the same time is simply unheard of.

Seeing them flourish is astonishing.

Quincy’s version of the Fab Three took command during the first half Saturday night, turning a tie score into a 12-point lead as the Blue Devils posted a 59-37 victory over Quincy Notre Dame at the Pit.

Starters Sam Mulherin and Terron Cartmill were taken out of the game midway through the first quarter. When junior Reid O’Brien picked up two quick fouls, Blue Devils coach Andy Douglas didn’t flinch when he put two freshmen substitutes — Keshaun Thomas and Dominique Clay — on the floor with Talton, freshman Bradley Longcor III and sophomore reserve Ralph Wires.

The score was 6-6 when the three freshmen were on the floor at the 3:04 mark of the first quarter. By the next time Douglas substituted at the 1:49 mark of the second quarter, the Blue Devils had expanded the lead to 25-13.

The Raiders never got closer than nine points thereafter.

“Being able to know that you can go out there and compete with everybody at such a young age, it’s an amazing feeling,” Clay said.

“We’re tough,” Thomas said. “We just go out there and play. When we were younger, we just went out there and killed everybody. We all grew, and we were all bigger than everybody.”

Expectations for the freshman class have been big for some time.

Thomas, Longcor and Clay were members of the seventh grade team at Quincy Junior High School that posted a 24-0 record and won the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 4A state championship in 2020. That same group played a shortened season because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2021, winning all seven games.

To expect much of a contribution from freshmen on the varsity level seemed possible but unlikely.

“If I’m 100 percent honest, I knew they all had a chance,” QHS coach Andy Douglas said after Saturday night’s victory. “In all honesty, I didn’t think they would be where they are.

“The process of playing during a COVID season, where they didn’t have a whole lot of game time, to stepping in at the varsity level is a massive jump — let alone going from the eighth grade to varsity, right? For them to be able to do it at the highest level has been fun.”

“When there was open gym (in the fall), I knew I was ready,” Clay said. “I’ve always wanted to do this. So I was like, why fumble around the time that I’ve been waiting for my whole life? To come and play on the Blue Devils’ floor at such a young age and getting to experience it for four years of my life, it’s unbelievable. It’s such a high.”

This past weekend proved the Blue Devils can still win when teams try to clamp down on Talton.

Thomas, a 6-foot-5 post player, had 19 points and 16 rebounds in victories over Moline and QND. He showed flashes of his potential when he scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 56-47 victory over Miller Career Academy in the season’s second game.

Clay knocked down four 3-pointers on Friday against Moline and added four more points against QND.

Longcor is enjoying the best start to a freshman season in school history. 

Talton scored 230 points in the 2018-19 season to set a school record for a freshman, averaging 8.8 points. Longcor has 142 points through 10 games. He has reached double figures in scoring in eight consecutive games. His scoring average is 16.5 points in the last five games.

His 3-pointer with 3:45 to play in the third quarter on Saturday pushed Quincy’s lead to 38-23. He finished with a game-high 20 points against the Raiders, and he led the team with 18 points on Friday against the Maroons.

“He’s special,” Thomas said of Longcor. “He can facilitate the floor. He can drive, shoot, pass, set up plays … he can do anything.”

Longcor says the freshman class has been playing together since his father, Brad Jr., coached them starting in the first grade.

“We’ve always been playing together as a unit,” Longcor said. “Sometimes it was at tournaments. Sometimes we’re just playing in a gym. We’re always just trying to get better. You can get better and better the closer you are.”

Douglas says that dedication to the game has helped the freshmen succeed so quickly. He calls them “basketball guys.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t multi-sport guys,” he said. “What it does mean is they’re always wanting to get into the gym. They always want to work on their game. These guys are basketball junkies. I give a lot of credit to Brad Longcor (Jr.) and Jimmie Louthan. They were the guys who took the entire group under their wing, traveled with them and spent a lot of money out of their own pocket to get these kids in a position to compete at this level.”

Their first moments as Blue Devils were scary at first — but not for long.

“It was nerve-wracking at first,” Clay said. “I remember the first Blue Devil scrimmage. It was crazy. I was like shaking and nervous. Then I went out there, and I’m just doing great. We move the ball well, and we get good shots. We played great.”

“Every basketball player has to get used to a new level,” Longcor said. “But ever since then, I feel like we’ve all been super comfortable.”

How comfortable? Douglas doesn’t worry about relying on three 14-year-olds at critical moments.

“At first, we were worried about getting (the freshmen) all ready before Thanksgiving,” he said. “But early on, we could see that these guys can take a lot in by the way they study the game the way they do and how they’re in the gym as much as they are. Even when we’re on the bus, they’re talking basketball stuff.

“There’s always room for improvement. We’re never complete. We’re always striving and working to be better. And with this group, we’ve had to tell them, wherever you think we are, we’re not there. We’re not even close to being there. We’ve competed against some teams, but we’re not even close to where we can get to. This group has to be constantly chasing the carrot and constantly chasing excellence.

“When you have a group that’s coachable like this, the sky’s the limit.”