Longcor outscores Lincoln by himself as No. 1 Quincy caps perfect week with lopsided victory

QUINCY — Bradley Longcor III doesn’t glance at the scoreboard often during a game other than to check the time remaining and occasionally see what the score might be.

“Just the time really,” he said. “To be honest, that’s it.”

And he ignores the individual numbers shared on the big scoreboard on the south wall of Blue Devil Gym because they are of secondary importance.

“It’s all about winning,” Longcor said. “That’s what matters.”

So when he went to the bench midway through the fourth quarter Saturday as Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas subbed out all of his starters, Longcor didn’t know his 23 points were more than Lincoln’s entire team had scored.

Thanks to some solid defense from the reserves over the closing minutes, it stayed that way. The Blue Devils, ranked No. 1 in the Class 4A state poll, closed out a 51-21 non-conference victory to cap a three-win week against three tradition-rich programs.

The Blue Devils beat Moline by 15 points Tuesday and ninth-ranked Rock Island by 12 points on Friday. That means they get Sunday to breathe, rest and relax.

“Heck, yes,” Douglas said. “And to be honest, we’re taking Sunday and Monday to relax and rest our bodies a little bit. It’s been an extremely busy first part of the season. … This is the time where we can get guys rested up. If they are banged up, they can get healed up and be ready for an exciting finish to the regular season and beyond.”

What might possibly take place in that “beyond” is the reason Longcor says there won’t actually be a day off.

“If we’re going to sit back and relax, we’re going to do it while watching film of Bishop O’Connell,” Longcor said of Quincy’s opponent next Saturday night in the Quincy Shootout. “That’s probably the only relaxing we will do.

“Our mind needs to always be on the game. It might be a good day to rest our bodies, but we have to be locked in and ready to go for our next practice.”

Staying locked in is paramount.

Quincy (18-1) held Moline 16 points below its season scoring average and both Rock Island and Lincoln to 23 points below their scoring averages.

“We trust what our guys do on the defensive end, and we had a really good week because of it,” Douglas said.

In the opening minutes Saturday night, Lincoln looked like it may find a way to crack Quincy’s zone matchup. The Railers created a slug’s pace and led 3-2 through the game’s first four minutes. 

“They kind of lull you to sleep and take advantage of you when you’re not paying attention,” Douglas said. “In that one moment you’re not paying attention, they’re going to find you.”

The Blue Devils just didn’t let that happen. The Railers (10-8) made just four field goals in the first half and didn’t score the final 4:03 of the second quarter. Meanwhile, Longcor hit a running jumper in the lane just before time expired in the half to put the Blue Devils up 22-11 at the break.

At that point, he had outscored Lincoln 12-11 by himself. 

“I credit that to our defense,” Longcor said. “I thought we played really good defense, and everybody was talking. I credit everything to the defense for the job everyone did.”

Douglas did, too.

“Dom (Clay) was phenomenal off the ball tonight,” Douglas said. “Kamren (Wires) was great on the ball tonight. He was applying pressure the entire time. And everyone played their role defensively.”

They got involved offensively, too. All five starters scored in the first half, while senior forward Keshaun Thomas finished with 10 points overall. Longcor’s 23-point effort came one night after he scored eight points in the victory over Rock Island.

“I got my flow back shooting,” Longcor said.

But he didn’t force anything.

“He did a great job of finding his shot, but also creating shots for other teammates,” Douglas said. “That’s what he does. That’s why he’s a special player.”

But not even Douglas realized Longcor was outdoing the Railers by himself.

“I didn’t know that until the end of the game,” Douglas said. “It’s just an impressive game. It was an impressive game by all of our guys. Lincoln executes its offense and did so really well in the first quarter. From that point on, our defense really took over.”