Get it and go: Raiders employ up-tempo attack to run away from Comets in season opener

QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball coach Greg Altmix hoped his team would be in midseason form in its  season opener even if he knew that wasn’t likely. 

Still, the effort he witnessed from start to finish was the next best thing.

“Working hard and hustling can cover up for a lot of mistakes,” Altmix said. 

The Raiders showed plenty of jump from the opening tip and raced to a 65-40 win over McCluer (Mo.) in Friday’s start to the QND/Gully Transportation Shootout at The Pit, marking a successful debut for Altmix in his first game as QND’s leader.

“Not bad for the first night. We’ll take it,” Altmix said.

QND scored the game’s first six points and had a 17-10 advantage after the first quarter. The Raiders pushed the lead to double digits in the second quarter and held the Comets to only two field goals in the frame.

“Our strategy was to go quick and run the court,” QND junior forward Jackson Connoyer said. “I think we did that well. We were sloppy at times but still won by a big margin.”

Connoyer had 10 points in the first half and finished with a team-high 14 points. 

“Our pace is different (than last season),” Connoyer said. “One of our phrases is ‘box and go.’ We box out and then we want to get into a secondary break in transition.”

The up-and-down clip at which QND intends to play was on full display.

“Part of it comes from the fact that when you’ve got a lot of guys that can play like we do, when you’re running a fast-paced game, it provides the opportunity for more guys to play,” Altmix said.

The Raiders went 10 players deep in Friday’s affair. Eight of those players were in the scoring column by the end of the third quarter.

“The greatest teams that I’ve had the opportunity to coach had guys that understood their roles, bought into their roles, and put the team first,” said Altmix, who has a career coaching record of 248-171 and won two Class 1A state tournament trophies at Liberty and took Highland (Mo.) to the Class 2 state quarterfinals.

“I think everybody here has made it about the team being successful. The comments that I’m hearing from the players is that we want to be successful. You have to have that type of culture where it’s team-first to reach your potential. I think they’re understanding that if they do it together, that’s going to give them a great chance of being successful.”

QND led by 13 points at halftime and increased its advantage to 50-31 heading into the fourth quarter. Raiders junior guard Jace Allensworth finished with 12 points, including eight points in the second half, while senior guard Alex Dance added nine points and junior forward Gavin Doellman chipped in with seven off the bench. McCluer’s Milan Kyles led all scorers with 19 points.

“We just came out with high intensity,” Allensworth said. “It’s hard to beat teams that are fast up the court. We got a lot of different guys who can really get up the court very easily.”

The Raiders cap off the weekend with a visit from Gateway STEM (Mo.) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“We made some mistakes tonight,” Altmix said. “We gave up some second-chance opportunities. We didn’t play as aggressive as we should have, but I thought the guys played hard. I thought they were trying to do the things that I asked them to do.”