Sterling’s putback as time expires costs QHS girls basketball team chance to pull another upset

STERLING, Ill. — Quincy High School girls basketball coach Brad Dance and the Blue Devils would have liked four extra minutes to attempt to topple state-ranked Sterling.

A fraction of a second negated that opportunity.

Off an inbounds play under the basket with 4.3 seconds remaining in regulation of a tied Western Big 6 Conference game, the Golden Warriors’ Nia Harris flipped a shot from outside the right block that caromed off the rim.

Sterling’s Delali Amankwa grabbed the weak-side rebound and made the putback as time expired, allowing the Golden Warriors to escape with a 42-40 victory at Homer B. Musgrove Fieldhouse. Officials on the court immediately signaled the basket good without hesitation.

“That was a game we felt like we let get away from us,” Dance said. 

It robbed Quincy (15-9, 6-5 WB6) of the chance to beat the league’s top two teams in back-to-back games after it knocked off Galesburg on Thursday night.

“I stress all the time and we talked a ton after this game about how every possession matters and you have to treat each possession importantly,” Dance said. “We have to make sure we’re doing that because it’s the little things we’re struggling with.”

Quincy led 23-17 at halftime and increased the advantage to nine points when Madelyn Hamby buried a 3-pointer from the left wing. The Blue Devils still led 29-21 with 5:01 to go in the third quarter when the Golden Warriors, ranked sixth in Class 3A, went on a 14-2 run to take a 35-31 lead into the final stanza.

The Blue Devils got within 38-37 on Khloe Nicholson’s runner in the lane with 2:15 to go. The Golden Warriors (23-4, 10-1 WB6) missed a pair of free throws with 1:08 to go, but Harris grabbed the offensive rebound and Joslynn James was fouled and made two throws with 56.8 seconds left for a 40-37 lead.

Hamby buried a 3-pointer — her fifth of the game — with 35 seconds remaining to tie things at 40. Sterling held for the last shot, taking a timeout with 4.3 seconds remaining to set up the final sequence.

“We’re getting better,” Dance said. “This was another close one I felt we should have won. We just have to make sure, especially in the second half when everything is more crucial, that we value every possession.”

Hamby led the Blue Devils with 15 points, while Jada Brown had 11 points and nine rebounds and Nicholson finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists.