Longcor helps Blue Devils overcome ragged start to head into holidays with unblemished record

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The fortunate thing about the Quincy High School boys basketball team’s schedule is all four of the Tuesday night games on tap the second half of the season will be played at Blue Devil Gym.

The unfortunate thing is they’re still on Tuesday nights.

For the second consecutive Tuesday, the Blue Devils struggled with rhythm offensively, going without a field goal for the first 5 minutes, 34 seconds of the game against Springfield at Willard Duey Gym. The state’s third-ranked team in Class 4A eventually got rolling and earned a 76-57 victory, but the struggling starts are a concern.

Last week, in a 61-51 victory over Webster Groves, Mo., the Blue Devils opened the game without a field goal for the first 8 minutes, 25 seconds.

“I hate these Tuesday games,” QHS coach Andy Douglas said with a chuckle.

The day of the week doesn’t matter as much as the Blue Devils’ unblemished record.

Quincy takes an 11-0 mark to next week’s Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic, where it will face Oakville (Mo.) in the first round at 2:30 p.m. December 27 at Vergil Fletcher Gym. This is the Blue Devils’ longest season-opening win streak since the 1991-92 team started 17-0.

“When you haven’t lost a game, you’re getting every opponent’s best effort,” Douglas said. “They’re coming out and playing motivated basketball. We’re seeing teams coming in and playing at a high level, which is good for us. It tests us.”

Springfield looked motivated from the start.

The Senators scored the game’s first nine points and held the Blue Devils without a field goal until Bradley Longcor III buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a Dom Clay assist with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter.

Quincy didn’t take the lead until Longcor made his fourth 3-pointer of the first half with 2:30 to go for a 22-20 lead. An 8-1 run to finish the half was followed by a 9-0 spurt to start the second half that put the Blue Devils in control for good.

“We played a little timid in the first half and we weren’t aggressive enough,” Douglas said. “Bradley’s not going to sit back and allow that to take place.”

Longcor finished with a game-high 27 points, while Camden Brown had 17 points and Keshaun Thomas added 10.

“When others weren’t creating, Bradley created for himself and got a couple of other guys involved as well,” Douglas said.

The reward is a day off and a couple of light days of practice prior to Christmas.

“This has been a brutal stretch,” said Douglas, whose team has played six of its eight games since the Thanksgiving tournament on the road. “This has been about staying in the moment and constantly looking for ways to improve.”