Schuckman: Taking trip down memory lane leads to list of 25 memorable QHS basketball games spanning 25 years on the beat

QUINCY — It started exactly where you would expect.

Blue Devil Gym.

A quarter of a century ago, I covered my first Quincy High School boys basketball game as the beat writer for the Quincy Herald-Whig — a 68-63 victory over Galesburg featuring J.D. Summers with 20 points and the Blue Devils going 23 of 28 from the free-throw line.

Since then, I have chronicled more than 600 games spanning 25 seasons, spent 20 seasons doing color commentary for radio broadcasts, and wrote the book “Stand Up and Cheer: A Century of Blue Devils Basketball,” which tells the story of the first 100 years of this tradition-rich program.

The memories created through the years never fade, and the relationships built along the way are priceless.

Sitting in the bleachers under the south basket at Blue Devil Gym on the opening night of this season’s Thanksgiving Tournament, a fan asked me what the best game I’ve covered involving QHS had been. That answer was easy, and it kickstarted a conversation about my favorite moments of the last quarter century.

Ultimately, I put together a list of my favorite 25 games of 25 seasons on the beat.

Thursday, we will begin unveiling those games here at Muddy River Sports with insight from those involved and a recap of what made that specific game memorable for me.

The list ranges from from buzzer beaters to postseason trophies, from conference title tilts to overtime games, from what happened in the locker room to what took place in the hotels on overnight stays.

Following that Thanksgiving night conversation, I began jotting down in a notebook the games I remembered the most. In what felt like a flash, I plucked 25 games from the memory banks without looking in a record book, researching old newspapers or pulling out scorebooks.

As we unveil the list, it will track backward until we get to the most memorable game I have covered, the one that started the whole conversation.

Hopefully your memories of these moments are as crystal clear as mine are and you enjoy the trip down memory lane. For those fortunate enough to call Blue Devil Gym home over the years, every game has meaning, but this list captures the ones I will never forget.