Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
December 29, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Andy Douglas hasn’t found a need to burn many timeouts this season. “A majority of games we’re walking away with six timeouts left,” the Quincy High School boys basketball coach said. “I just don’t call a ton.” Even in tight, tense situations, he allows the veteran lineup to navigate its own way. …
Read Full Article December 29, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Tyler Sprick insisted the Quincy High School boys basketball players didn’t look too far ahead when checking out the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic bracket. “It was, ‘Who’s on our list and what do we have to do to beat them?’’ the senior guard said. Still, the Blue Devils knew what potentially…
Read Full Article December 28, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Rick Hummel’s career as a Hall of Fame baseball writer didn’t afford the Quincy native many opportunities to be nothing more than a fan. Christmas always did. That’s when Hummel spent hours upon hours at the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic, watching some of the Metro East’s top prep basketball talent. More…
Read Full Article December 28, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — One of the unique aspects of holiday tournament play — at least at the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic — is each coach is handed a sheet of halftime stats on the way to the locker room. When Quincy High School coach Andy Douglas perused how his team constructed its 30-point lead…
Read Full Article December 28, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Afterward, Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas could joke about it. In the moment, it could have been cause for trepidation. With two minutes remaining in the first quarter of Wednesday’s opening-round game of the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic and the Blue Devils leading Oakville (Mo.) 16-5, Quincy swingman…
Read Full Article December 26, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
CAMP POINT, Ill. — Defense is top priority at Camp Point Central, no matter the sport. “We preach it. It’s not just me preaching it,” said James Barnett, the boys basketball coach whose team enters the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament this week not having allowed an opponent to score 40 points in a game yet this…
Read Full Article December 24, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — It has been a quarter century since the Quincy High School boys basketball team last won a holiday tournament championship. Is this the year the drought ends? No Quincy team has gone into the Christmas break with a better record in the 26 seasons since the Blue Devils won the championship of the…
Read Full Article December 21, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The West Hancock and Central-Southeastern girls basketball teams put a cap on the 16th Rumble on the River Holiday Shootout with victories Thursday night. The Titans beat Columbia (Mo.) Father Tolton 58-49 and the Panthers dispatched Fort Madison (Iowa) 49-16. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman spent the evening at John Wood Community…
Read Full Article December 21, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Five days before Christmas and Santa Claus is in prime form. Once again, that spelled trouble for the Grinch. In the marquee match of the Wednesday’s youth wrestling event held at The Pit by the Quincy Notre Dame wrestling program, Santa Claus beat the Grinch in an exhibition with dozens of young wrestlers…
Read Full Article December 20, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Jason Killday has never been a job chaser. “Occasionally, you see something you kind of raise your eyebrow to and think, ‘That’d be interesting,’ said Killday, who spent the last eight seasons as the offensive coordinator with the Truman State football program after six seasons on the Quincy University staff. “My goal has…
Read Full Article December 20, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Roots run deep in the Killday family, where the family farm outside of Winchester, Ill., remains the beacon that draws everyone home. Josh Rabe wants Quincy University to have the same magnetism. So for the second time this calendar year, when faced with having to hire a head coach for a high-profile program,…
Read Full Article December 20, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Here is a look at the scoreboard and upcoming schedule for the 16th Rumble on the River: Played at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center Friday, December 15 Quincy Notre Dame girls 59, Hannibal 21 MVP — QND’s Sage Stratton Saturday, December 16 North Shelby girls 38, Payson Seymour 33 MVP —…
Read Full Article December 19, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Conference play and rivalry games will remain part of the Illinois high school football landscape for now. But for how long? Tuesday, the Illinois High School Association announced the results of the annual by-law referendum with a proposal for statewide district scheduling for football failing. Of the 727 votes cast, 379 member schools…
Read Full Article December 19, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Monday night proved to be Missouri’s night. Three Missouri squads — the Monroe City boys and girls basketball teams along with the Palmyra boys — snared victories at the 16th Rumble on the River at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Monroe City girls used eight points apiece from JWCC signee…
Read Full Article December 18, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The getaway game never got away from the Quincy University men’s basketball team. That should make for a Merry Christmas for all. In the Hawks’ final game before heading home for the holiday break, they held Wayne State to 28-percent shooting from the field in the second half of a 66-55 victory Sunday…
Read Full Article December 18, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — A suffocating defensive effort in the second half of Sunday’s game and a double-double from senior guard Zion Richardson gave the Quincy University men’s basketball team a 66-55 victory over Wayne State and the championship of the Hansen-Spear Holiday Classic. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman was at Pepsi Arena and put together…
Read Full Article December 17, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The energy and intensity you’d expect when the Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball teams square off was on full display Saturday night at The Pit. The Blue Devils won 77-47 in front of a raucous crowd. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman and photographer Samantha Carmean were courtside and…
Read Full Article December 17, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Sage Stratton could see it in Marie Eversman’s approach. “She was not scared,” Stratton. Not at all. The freshman guard’s baseline jumper with two seconds remaining in regulation Saturday afternoon gave the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball a 51-49 victory over Troy (Mo.) Buchanan in the 16th Rumble on the River at John…
Read Full Article December 17, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Taylor Fohey and Jada Brown are at opposite ends of their high school careers, one signed to play college basketball next season and the other about to finish the first semester of her freshman year. Yet, when they meet in the middle, they are as formidable as any twin towers around. Cairo (Mo.)…
Read Full Article December 17, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The Rumble on the River rumbled on Saturday with eight games being played at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman was there for half of the slate and put together this photo gallery:
Read Full Article December 17, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Here are the results and the remaining schedule for the 16th Rumble on the River Shootout at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center.
Read Full Article December 16, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Sage Stratton’s assessment of the nearly 12-minute stretch in which the Hannibal girls basketball team went without a field goal Friday night should attract as much attention as the effort itself. “We put defense first and we work hard on defense,” the Quincy Notre Dame junior guard said. “It doesn’t matter what court…
Read Full Article December 16, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team’s defensive dominance led to a 59-21 victory over Hannibal on Friday night in the opening game of the 16th Rumble on the River at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman sat courtside and put together this photo gallery:
Read Full Article December 14, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Wilson Rigg has lived in Texas long enough his family can hear it in his voice. “I’m starting to get an accent and everything,” he said with a chuckle. He’s also been there long enough to finally live out a dream. An All-Clarence Cannon Conference lineman from Palmyra who was an Academic All-American…
Read Full Article December 13, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — With success comes respect, as much as the Quincy High School boys basketball program has earned in quite some time. Andy Douglas wants the Blue Devils to embrace it, but not get consumed by it. “It’s not the outcome of these games that is important,” said Douglas, who has coached Quincy to an…
Read Full Article December 13, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Chris Duesdieker’s tireless effort is done with one goal in mind. Put the spotlight on area basketball. The collection of talented teams he is bringing to John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center and the intriguing matchups he has created for the 16th Rumble on the River have transformed the event from a…
Read Full Article December 13, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The Appalachian Mountains are calling Gary Bass home. The North Carolina native who spent the past 12 college football seasons coaching at Quincy University, including the last seven as head coach, resigned Tuesday morning after accepting an offer to become the head coach at the University of Virginia-Wise, an NCAA Division II program.…
Read Full Article December 12, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The field goal drought lasted more than eight minutes, but it wasn’t long enough to make the Quincy High School boys basketball players fret. “Nah,” junior forward Keshaun Thomas said. “We just had to fight our way back.” They had done so before, albeit on a bigger stage facing more dire circumstances. So…
Read Full Article December 12, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The Quincy High School boys basketball team can’t be kept down. The Blue Devils erased a 10-point first-quarter deficit Tuesday night and led the entire second half in a 61-51 victory over Webster Groves (Mo.) at Blue Devil Gym. Quincy is 8-0 following its final home game of the 2023 portion of its…
Read Full Article December 11, 2023 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Missouri Football Coaches Association recognized what anyone who squared off against Hannibal during the past four seasons came to know. Aneyas Williams is the most dynamic player on the field. The senior all-purpose back was named the Class 4 Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-state selection by the…
Read Full Article