Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Courtney Boyd believes the phrase “Coach of the Year” is a misnomer. “To be honest with you, I wish it wasn’t a singular award,” she said. The second-year Quincy University women’s basketball coach knows she can’t do everything alone, including engineering one of the best turnaround stories in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.…
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QUINCY — Max Booher announced his presence with a bang. A freshman guard on the Quincy University men’s basketball team, Booher came off the bench in collegiate debut and made 5 of 7 3-pointers and scored a team-leading 21 points in the season-opening loss to Findlay. After that, he kept right on shooting. Booher made…
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Milton Whitfield had yet to experience playing in historic Vergil Fletcher Gym prior to Tuesday night. “All I wanted was a chance on this floor,” the Quincy High School junior guard said. For good reason. “It’s very beautiful, very big, very spacious,” Whitfield said. “The kind of floor you want to run…
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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — As they filed out of Vergil Fletcher Gym on Tuesday night, the Quincy High School boys basketball players weren’t aware of who their opponent would be in Friday’s Class 4A Collinsville Sectional title game. “Either one, I’m excited to play,” senior guard Bradley Longcor III said. He knew there would be motivation…
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TAYLORVILLE, Ill. — Ari Buehler’s bright smile said it all. “I guess it does,” she said. The euphoric moment the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team experienced Monday night, beating Mt. Vernon 55-54 to win the Class 3A Taylorville Super-Sectional and earn a final four berth, had the Raiders smiling, giggling and even crying as…
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TAYLORVILLE, Ill. — As Ari Buehler stepped to the free-throw line with the chance to nudge the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team closer to a state tournament berth, her mind circled back to a year ago when the Raiders’ season ended with her miss at the charity stripe. “Oh, yeah, for sure,” Buehler said.…
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QUINCY — Karsyn Stratton felt the vibes. “I got here and I was loose and I was like, ‘Let’s have some fun today,’” she said. Quincy University women’s basketball coach Courtney Boyd felt that, too. ‘I looked at the team and I said, ‘I feel bad for whoever steps in the gym today because you…
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QUINCY — The last impression is the one that lingers. The Quincy University men’s basketball players were well aware of that. “How is it going to end?” junior guard El Sieger said. “Is it going to end just by losing? Or are we going to compete and win? I think it was definitely good going…
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QUINCY — Here is the area scoreboard for Saturday, March 1: Girls basketball Class 3 District 6 championship South Shelby 39, Highland 19 Class 2 District 6 championship Canton 61, Milan 35 Class 1 District 10 championship North Shelby 50, La Plata 39 Men’s basketball Quincy University 89, Indianapolis 77 Lincoln Land 75, John Wood…
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WAVERLY, Ill. — One of the first things Central-Southeastern girls basketball coach Matt Long reminded his players at halftime Thursday night is they trailed by only six points. “He was right,” CSE senior forward Lauren Miller said. “We were only down six. For as bad as things had been, that had to mean something.” It…
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WAVERLY, Ill. — When practice is finished, Lexi Niekamp isn’t. A freshman guard on the Central-Southeastern girls basketball team, Niekamp typically heads home after practice and puts herself through another tedious workout inside the indoor shooting facility on her family’s property. “Every night I’m in there shooting,” Niekamp said. Same shots, same rhythm, same amount.…
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CHATHAM, Ill. — The Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team put memories of a sectional championship loss to rest by hammering Mahomet-Seymour 57-17 in Thursday night’s Class 3A Chatham Glenwood Sectional title game. Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey was there and put together this photo gallery:
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WAVERLY, Ill. — The order in which the connection occurs — Miller to Peters or Peters to Miller — doesn’t seem to matter much. It’s lethal either way. Tuesday night, it ruined the Staunton girls basketball team’s chance to make amends for two consecutive postseason losses to Central-Southeastern before the Bulldogs even had the chance…
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WAVERLY, Ill. — With two older brothers who were all-state football players, Agnes Genenbacher really had no option other than to be tough and know how to take a tumble. “That’s my nature,” she said. Going against them also taught her to be competitive. “I always want to be the best in everything I do,”…
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ST. LOUIS — Brady Kindhart didn’t know where the baseball ended up after it landed beyond the center field wall. He later found out it was in the perfect hands. Mike Kindhart retrieved what will now be a forever family treasure and a reminder of how his son’s collegiate baseball career began. Monday afternoon, in…
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QUINCY — For the first time in quite some time, the Quincy University men’s basketball players were able to spend a Saturday night without lamenting what had taken place earlier in the day. “You can just chill knowing you won a game,” freshman guard Max Booher said. That hadn’t happened since Jan. 20. Saturday afternoon,…
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QUINCY — The crack in Nicole McDermott’s voice explained just how much it stung to see the chance at another victory in Pepsi Arena slip away. “I’m a sore loser,” she said. Sure, with Saturday’s 94-86 loss to Maryville in Great Lakes Valley Conference play came the end to the Quincy University women’s basketball team’s…
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QUINCY — If Brad Hoyt were telling a fishing tale, McKendree would be the big one the Quincy University men’s basketball team could never reel in. The Hawks seemingly had the Bearcats on the line, but they could never land the catch. McKendree’s blistering first half led to a 17-point halftime lead Thursday night, which…
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QUINCY — As he sat down to talk about his looming trip to the state wrestling championships, Ryan Darnell tussled his sweaty mop of hair and asked if the interview was going to be recorded for video purposes. You could sense the relief when he was told it wasn’t. “Good,” the Quincy Notre Dame senior…
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PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Pikeland Superintendent Todd Fox was in the middle of addressing the Pittsfield girls basketball team Friday morning when the door to the classroom where they had gathered cracked open. In walked Lincoln McCartney with a simple request. “I’m paraphrasing here, but she said something like, ‘Can I join this meeting?’” Fox said.…
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QUINCY — Each time Keshaun Thomas gained position on a Moline defender in the post Friday night, Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas could hear former assistant coach Tom Lepper barking at the guards to make the entry pass. In fact, Douglas could envision the lumbering 6-foot-9 Lepper getting off the bench and…
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QUINCY — The Quincy High School boys basketball team needs a victory Tuesday night at Rock Island to finish undefeated in the Western Big 6 Conferenece following a 69-52 victory over Moline on Friday night at Blue Devil Gym,. The Blue Devils are 26-2 overall and 11-0 in the WB6. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Here is the area scoreboard for Friday, February 14: Boys basketball Quincy High School 69, Moline 52 Quincy Notre Dame 71, Liberty 29 West Hancock 63, Southeastern 27 Pittsfield 49, Western 43 Griggsville-Perry 60, Payson Seymour 54 (2OT) Jacksonville Routt 51, Brown County 45 Illini West 47, Bushnell-Prairie City 26 Macomb 49, Camp…
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QUINCY — They braided their hair into pigtails in Reese Ramsey trademark style. They took the floor for warmups with red “RR” stickers affixed to their shooting shirts. They wore red ribbons in their hair. And they spoke emotionally and eloquently about a friend they lost and will remember forever. The Quincy Notre Dame girls…
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Editor’s note: Tuesday night, Pittsfield freshman Reese Ramsey, the leading scorer on the Saukees girls basketball team that finished the regular season with a 24-4 record, passed away after she and two teammates were involved in a three-vehicle wreck on Highway 106. Both teammates are currently hospitalized. Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman wrote this…
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QUINCY — The handyman work that comes with being a first-time home owner isn’t dramatically different from the challenges Riley Martin has experienced during his climb through the Chicago Cubs organization. You assess, game plan and attack. “I’m getting better with lots of trial-and-error stuff,” Martin said of his hammer and screwdriver skills. As for…
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QUINCY — Eric Orne summed up what the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team faced Saturday night quite succinctly. “I don’t think we’ll see a team that good unless we make the final four,” he said. The QND head coach has won enough games and been to enough state tournaments to be able to gauge…
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QUINCY — Lauren Miller stood in the middle of the lane before an inbounds play with her hand cupped covering her mouth as she continually coughed. Moments later, she drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key that extended the Central-Southeastern girls basketball team’s first half lead over Palmyra on Saturday to eight points,…
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QUINCY — Hudson Bock’s surprise turned to delight in a blink. With the Palmyra boys basketball team leading Jacksonville Routt 58-57 in overtime, Bock turned a steal into a fastbreak which he figured he’d finish with a left-handed layup. The ball had other ideas, rolling off the right side of the rim. “I saw it…
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QUINCY — As his teammates moved the ball up the floor, Trey Smyser gravitated to one of his favorite spots on the floor. “I like shooting on the wing,” he said. Apparently so. The Monroe City senior guard buried a 3-pointer from the right wing in front of the Panthers’ bench with 49.1 seconds remaining…
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