Potential game-tying shot doesn’t fall as QHS girls lose in overtime in State Farm Holiday Classic semifinal

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — It was the shot they wanted.

Just not the result.

Leila Dade’s running one-handed jump shot from 8 feet along the baseline was short with four seconds remaining in overtime, and the Quincy High School girls basketball team suffered a 42-40 loss to Morton in the semifinals of the large school bracket in the State Farm Holiday Classic at the Shirk Center late Friday night.

The loss sends the Blue Devils (12-4) to the third-place game at noon Saturday in the Shirk Center against Washington, which lost 55-45 to top-seeded Normal Community in the other semifinal.

Isabelle Hutchinson split a pair of free throws with 18.4 seconds left, and when the Blue Devils advanced the ball into the frontcourt, QHS coach Brad Dance called a timeout with 12.9 seconds left in front of his team’s bench. 

After Myley Longcor inbounded the ball to Dade, the senior guard dribbled to midcourt, then drove right with Hutchinson hounding her. Dade looked to Longcor, who was in the corner but defended, then got to two steps outside the low block on the right side before she shot.  

Morton’s Abby VanNeenen outfought Quincy’s Jada Brown for the rebound, and the Potters dribbled out the clock.

“We’re setting the screen on their top defender, and Leila is coming off that,” Dance said. “Jada has gone to the basket (after setting the screen), and their bottom person has to either defend Jada or go out and guard Miley. They went out to guard Miley. 

“Leila got the shot we wanted. I mean, she had a good shot. I’ll take that all day. She had a good look. I was happy that we executed that.”

Dade said she noticed Morton made sure to take away Longcor as an option.

“I knew I was going to pull that shot,” she said. “Coach Dance says he has a lot of trust in me. We’ve run that play multiple times. I had a couple of other shots like that tonight that fell. That one didn’t fall, which kind of sucked, but I trusted myself, and I know my team trusted me.”

Going overtime with one of the most storied girls basketball programs in Illinois history was a remarkable accomplishment — especially when senior center Taylor Fohey only played 6 minutes and 59 seconds out of the first 27 minutes of the game.

Fohey, who scored 40 points in the Blue Devils’ first two tournament games, picked up two fouls and headed to the bench with 4:14 left in the first quarter. Dance put her back in the lineup for the final offensive possession of the quarter, and Fohey picked up her third foul on a highly questionable offensive foul as she tried to drive the baseline.

“(Assistant coach Greg) Wellman didn’t know if I should put Taylor back in on that possession, but it was our ball,” Dance said. “I’m going to do that nine out of 10 times. Yeah, it turned out badly, but I would do that again. Especially our older kids, I’m going play them if they have two fouls. It’s just the way I do it, and I trust them.”

Quincy led 13-12 after the first quarter, briefly lost the lead in the second quarter but regained it with a pair of free throws by Leah Chevalier and Cameron Byquist. The Blue Devils ended the half on a driving shot from the left side of the lane by Dade that made the score 23-19 at the intermission.

Fohey picked up her fourth foul with 5:11 left in the third quarter, and Longcor was whistled for her third foul a minute later. Undeterred, Quincy again held on to its lead. Morton got within 26-25, but Dade made two free throws and converted a three-point play, and Brown made two free throws to make the score 33-27 entering the fourth quarter.

With as many as three starters on the bench for extended periods, reserves Bri Lannerd, Kate Mettemeyer, Madelyn Hamby and Byquist helped Quincy maintain its lead. The defense limited Morton to 10 for 28 shooting in the first three quarters.

“They battled,” Dance said. “We did what we needed to do. I was proud of their effort. They did a great job. The effort was there.”

Morton rattled off nine of the first 10 points in the fourth quarter, with Addy Engel’s 3-pointer tying the score and her layup after a Quincy turnover putting the Potters in front at 36-34. Fohey scored her only basket of the game to tie the score at the 4:57 mark. After a 3-pointer by Morton’s Ellie VanNeenan, Longcor tied the score with her own 3-pointer at the 3:47 mark.

Neither team scored after that. Morton held the ball for the final minute but got a poor shot at the buzzer to end regulation play.

Morton scored the only field goal in overtime on a driving shot by Engel, who led all scorers with 21 points.

“We really did face adversity tonight, but at the end of the day, we know how good we are at our level,” Dade said. “We all know we should have won that game, but that’s in the past. You can’t change it. Tomorrow we’re going to turn around, we’re going to play for third because we’re the third seed, and we’re going to finish third.”