Douglas reminds Blue Devils to stay grounded after blowing out another WB6 opponent

QUINCY — Every contender wants a shot at the title.

So as both the reigning Western Big 6 Conference champion and the No. 2-ranked team in the state in Class 4A, the Quincy High School boys basketball squad has to be prepared to make sure a prize fight doesn’t turn into a back-alley brawl.

“Everybody wants to beat us,” Quincy senior point guard Kamren Wires said. “When you’re coming into our gym and you’re seeing the Blue Devil jumping around, that fires them up. I understand why it fires them up, but we know how to take care of business. 

“We know how to handle ourselves as people on the court and off the court. We keep it professional and just put the ball in the basket..”

When emotions ran high in the third quarter Friday night, the Blue Devils held their ground without crossing any regrettable lines.

During a four-minute stretch in which technical fouls were assessed to players on both teams and jawing with each other was steady, the Blue Devils extended a 22-point halftime lead to 28 points. The lead reached 31 points by the end of the third quarter, invoking the mercy rule turbo-clock and expediting an 84-45 victory over Sterling in WB6 play at Blue Devil Gym.

At the same time, the Blue Devils did enough verbal sparring of their own for Andy Douglas to be extremely demonstrative on the sideline as he reiterated the need for composure.

“If you’re going to carry the No. 1 or No. 2 ranking, you have to understand teams are going to go at you,” Douglas said. “It’s the same way we went after Imhotep Prep last year. Competitors are going to give their best effort against those type of teams. If that’s talking a little trash in between plays, that’s going to be a part of it. 

“We can’t allow that to affect what we do. I thought we did tonight. We kind of took things personal and got out of our game plan defensively. We have to stay grounded in what we need to do.”

That’s not always easy when the score gets lopsided.

The Blue Devils (21-2, 10-0 WB6) have beaten their last three WB6 opponents by an average of 47 points and their last four victories overall by an average of 42.8 points. It makes it difficult to stay disciplined and focused.

“I thought we did a better job tonight of not getting sloppy with things compared to some of the other games this year,” Douglas said. “I told the guys, ‘Do you expect them to just come out and lay down?’ You know they’re going to compete. So we had to respect that.”

Quincy needed to play that way, too, especially with a showdown against St. Louis Chaminade looming at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the Midwest Crossroads Shootout at Normal West High School in Normal, Ill.

“The main focus is always on tonight’s game, not tomorrow’s game,” Quincy senior forward Keshaun Thomas said. “We wanted to be more focused on Saturday’s big game, but we had to get there first. We felt like we had to do what we did tonight to get prepared for.”

That included establishing Thomas on the block.

The 6-foot-6 Thomas knocked down four of his first five shots and scored 17 points in the first half, while also grabbing eight rebounds. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

“Coach told me to go in and then go out,” Thomas said. “Establish my post game first — get a couple buckets, set some screens, roll a lot. Once I felt dominant there and they started helping out, I could pop out and hit shots. My mindset during the game was to do whatever it takes.”

By doing so, he opened up scoring avenues for his teammates.

“When Keshaun is working in the paint, keep giving him the ball,” said Wires, who finished with 13 points. “It opens everything else up.”

Said Douglas, “If Keshaun scores, it forces them to double him or front him, and that opens up some lanes to drive. It creates opportunities for other guys to get looks.”

The scoring balance — Bradley Longcor III was the other player in double figures with 12 points — has become a trademark.

“That’s the theme of this team,” Wires said.