Blue Devils’ offense goes quiet as Silver Streaks build big enough lead to survive WB6 battle

QUINCY — The offense went silent for too long.

The Quincy High School girls basketball team staked itself to a seven-point lead in Thursday night’s showdown with state-ranked Galesburg midway through the second quarter before everything went awry.

The Blue Devils scored just two points over the final 5 minutes, 24 seconds of the first half and then were shut out in the third quarter, resulting in a 44-41 loss in Western Big 6 Conference play at the QHS gym.

Galesburg, ranked seventh in Class 3A, trailed 23-16 following a three-point play by Quincy’s Jada Brown before going on a 9-0 run. Brown ended the Blue Devils’ scoreless stretch by driving for a layin that tied the game at 25 with 2:08 to go in the half.

The Silver Streaks (9-1, 4-0 WB6) scored the final four points of the half to take a 29-25 lead into the break and never trailed again.

Quincy (5-3, 2-2 WB6) failed to score on all seven possessions in the third quarter, attempting just five field goals and getting outscored 11-0 as Galesburg surged ahead 40-25. The Blue Devils missed three attempts on their first possession of the fourth quarter before finally ending an 11-minute scoring drought when Myley Longcor made 1 of 2 free throws with 6:45 to play.

It sparked a comeback.

The Blue Devils whittled the deficit to eight points with 1:30 to play and pulled within three points less than a minute later as a Brown three-point play made it 42-39 with 44.8 seconds to play. After Galesburg split a pair of free throws, Brown scored off a Kate Mettemeyer assist to cut the deficit to 43-41 with 28.6 seconds to play.

Galesburg’s Ella Herchenroder split a pair of free throws with 27.3 seconds remaining, leaving open a window for Quincy to tie the game. However, the Blue Devils didn’t get a shot off until Khloe Nicholson attempted a step-back 3-pointer with four seconds remaining.

Brown led the Blue Devils with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jozalyn Kilgore led the Silver Streaks with 19 points.