‘We weren’t frustrated’: Slow start doesn’t deter Blue Devils from steamrolling another opponent

QUINCY — There were no alarms sounding, no distress flags being raised.

The Quincy High School boys basketball team needed a full first quarter Saturday night for its offense to find a comfortable second gear, but once it did, it became obvious — and rather quickly — it was not a matter of if the Blue Devils would win, but simply by how many.

Quincy, the No. 4-ranked Class 4A team in the state, erupted over the second and third quarters Saturday night en route to devouring Deerfield 55-32 in front of about 2,600 fans at Blue Devil Gym.

The victory was Quincy’s 18th straight at home.

QHS (5-0) outscored Deerfield 43-15 over the middle two quarters, which more than made up for a 6-3 deficit after the opening eight minutes. Much of the final period was played with reserves from both schools.

“We missed a lot of shots early, but didn’t panic,” said guard Dom Clay, who finished with 14 points — all coming in the second and third quarters — and was one of the Blue Devils who triggered the pullaway.

Clay’s matter-of-fact take on the early deficit that resulted from the Blue Devils’ inability to hit shots was direct and to the point. He made it perfectly clear there was no erosion in the QHS confidence. 

“We know what we’re capable of doing,” said Clay, a 6-foot-3 senior.

That same approach was also seen in Keshaun Thomas, who used his 6-foot-6 frame and aggressive inside game to score 19 points and secure 17 rebounds. Both totals were game highs.

“We feel we can play with anyone in the state,” said Thomas. a senior whose rebounding figure was three off his career high of 20 established last season in a 65-51 win over East St. Louis in the Midwest Crossroads Shooting in Normal.

Thomas, too, emphasized Quincy did not reach for the panic button despite that abysmal first quarter.

 “We weren’t frustrated,” Thomas said. “We all know that we can make shots. We just stayed confident and did a great job of taking command of the game in the second and third quarters.”

Included in Thomas’s offensive stats were a pair of 3-point field goals. He said he has “three or four” 3-pointers this season, but his ultimate goal is 20.

“Coaches said I could shoot ’em,” Thomas reminded.

Blue Devils coach Andy Douglas just smiled when he heard about those words from his man in the middle.

“That’s just Keshaun being Keshaun,” Douglas said.

What impressed Douglas most about Thomas was his rebounding. Thomas grabbed a semi-staggering eight rebounds in the first quarter and had at least one in all four periods. Thomas would have likely hit the 20-rebound mark if the game had been closer as he appeared just briefly in the fourth quarter.

“Keshaun will go down as one of the top rebounders in program history, maybe the best,” Douglas said. “He does all we ask, and has done that since he was a freshman.”

Quincy’s third double-figure scorer was senior point guard Kamren Wires, who registered 10 second-half points. Wires also spearheaded a defensive effort that produced the club’s fewest points allowed so far this season and the third time QHS has held an opponent below 40.

“At point guard, he’s our first line of defense — and he was terrific,” Douglas said. “It all boiled down to defense for us tonight, and we were locked in all four quarters.”

Quincy is surrendering just 40.8 points per game. The Blue Devils are scoring at a 70.4 clip.

Quincy forced 14 turnovers and committed just six, with three of those coming in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.

Jacob Pollack, a 6-foot-8 junior, led Deerfield with 15 points.

There’s a good chance the Blue Devils will move up in next week’s Associated Press state poll. Gurnee-Warren (5-1), which was No. 1 in the most recent ballot, fell to Waukegan 72-62 in its most recent game.

Homewood Flossmoor (6-0) and Kenwood (4-0), ranked Nos. 2 and 3 last week, remain unbeaten. Homewood Flossmoor knocked off Whitney Young 79-71 and Kenwood downed Warren Township 61-58, both on Saturday.