Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
December 29, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Faced with a setback for only the second time this season and denied a shot at a tournament championship for the first time, Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas both understood and appreciated the Blue Devils’ reaction. They were disappointed, not despondent. The Blue Devils squandered a two-point lead with…
Read Full Article December 28, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Whew. That was the collective reaction from the Quincy High School boys basketball team’s bench and the throng of Blue Devil backers inside Vergil Fletcher Gym on Tuesday afternoon. The Blue Devils were held scoreless the first four minutes of the second half of the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic semifinal against…
Read Full Article December 28, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Boys Basketball 37th Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic At Vergil Fletcher Gym At Collinsville, Ill. Monday’s Games Madison 55, Belleville East 48 Decatur MacArthur 53, Edwardsville 44 Quincy High School 73, Belleville Althoff 54 Lincoln 35, Alton 17 Mundelein 48, Oakville 29 Collinsville 82, Wasilla 49 O’Fallon 48, Troy Triad 31 Granite City 62, Rockford…
Read Full Article December 28, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Sam Mulherin understands good things happen if you put yourself in the right position. Necessary things happen, too. Mulherin’s energetic pursuit of offensive rebounds helped the Quincy High School boys basketball team shake its first-half slumber and ignited a 31-point third quarter against Belleville Althoff on Monday afternoon at Vergil Fletcher Gym.…
Read Full Article December 28, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
MACOMB, Ill. — Brad Tomhave’s birthday wish was quite simple. All he wanted was a victory. Five minutes into Monday’s first-round game of the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament against Monmouth-Roseville, the Pittsfield boys basketball team didn’t look like it had anything gift-wrapped for the veteran coach. The Saukees allowed the Titans to score the game’s first…
Read Full Article December 27, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Anyone associated with the Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball program understands how on-point a team is going to have to be to win the State Farm Holiday Classic small-school bracket. The Raiders have seen the top-seeded team at its best. QND lost to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 66-42 at the Pit on December 3…
Read Full Article December 27, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Which team is considered the favorite in the 37th annual Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic? Take your pick. “There are a lot of really good teams in the field,” Quincy High School boys basketball coach Andy Douglas said. “I don’t know if there is a team that is head and shoulders better than…
Read Full Article December 25, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Often my wife, Michelle, laughs at my quirkiness. Other times she just rolls her eyes. It all depends on how off-color or out-of-bounds I get. When we’re taking a road trip together — our goal each summer or fall is to visit a different national park — the radio is constantly tuned to music. My…
Read Full Article December 23, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — A three-day, 15-game prep basketball extravaganza wrapped up Wednesday night at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center with a glimpse of what’s to come. The Liberty boys basketball team improved to 9-1 with their victory in the Rumble on the River. The Payson Seymour boys improved to 6-3 with back-to-back victories. The…
Read Full Article December 23, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The easy part is over, although Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball coach Eric Orne might argue nothing about the first half of the season could be considered easy. Compared to what lies ahead, it wasn’t quite as taxing. The Raiders get a four-day break following Wednesday night’s 66-38 victory over Lewistown in the…
Read Full Article December 22, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Boys Basketball At Monmouth, Ill. Monmouth-Roseville 52, Quincy Notre Dame 49. Click here for the story. At Liberty, Ill. Liberty 53, Illini West 45: The Eagles improved to 8-1 as Cannen Wolf scored 12 points and Tenhouse added 10. Nolan Deitrich led the Chargers, who are 7-3, with 23 points. At Rushville, Ill. Payson Seymour…
Read Full Article December 22, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Luke Guthrie’s 10-year anniversary as a professional golfer is looming. So is the opportunity for the Quincy native to reinvigorate his career. Following his 11th-place finish in the second stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School, Guthrie earned conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2022 season. He went on…
Read Full Article December 21, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Jirehl Brock should find himself in the spotlight for his first collegiate start. Breece Hall expects the former Quincy High School all-state running back to handle it well. Hall announced Saturday on Instagram he will forego his final season of eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft after a record-setting career as the…
Read Full Article December 21, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Girls Basketball At the Pit, Quincy Quincy Notre Dame 49, Central-Southeastern 35: The Raiders led 30-21 at halftime as Sage Stratton scored 11 points and Abbey Schreacke added 10, and that lead grew to as many as 14 points in the third quarter. The Panthers scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to…
Read Full Article December 21, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
WESTVILLE, Ind. — The Quincy University women’s basketball players are taking some good vibes home for the holidays. Scoring their first victory of the season against an NCAA Division II program on the road certainly makes it easier to celebrate. The Hawks led from start to finish Monday, extending the advantage over Purdue Northwest to…
Read Full Article December 20, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Mackenzie Bellows had started her road trip home to Calgary, Alberta, to spend the holidays with her family when Quincy University athletic director Josh Rabe asked if she’d have time for a phone call the next morning. “I said he’s either going to ruin this trip for me or he’s going to make…
Read Full Article December 20, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — No matter what the Quincy University men’s basketball players find wrapped beneath their Christmas trees, it may pale in comparison to what they received Sunday. They were blessed with the gift of momentum. By outscoring Davenport 18-6 over the final 5 minutes, 17 seconds of regulation, the Hawks head into the holiday break…
Read Full Article December 19, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Jeremiah Talton hurt. Understandably so. Friday night, in the Quincy High School boys basketball team’s 63-49 victory over Moline in Western Big 6 Conference play at Blue Devil Gym, the Maroons chose to defend the league’s leading scorer by putting a defender chest-to-chest with the 6-foot-6 swingman. Talton got bumped on every cut…
Read Full Article December 19, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Boys Basketball At The Pit, Quincy Quincy High School 59, Quincy Notre Dame 37. Click here for the story and photo gallery. At Havana, Ill. Illini West 51, Havana 46: The Chargers trailed by four with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, but rallied to force overtime and plucked the Ducks in the extra session. Nolan…
Read Full Article December 19, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Andy Douglas didn’t need to be boisterous with his halftime speech Saturday night. The Quincy High School boys basketball coach didn’t have to say much at all. “The guys were already talking about what we needed to do before I got in the locker room,” Douglas said. “A lot of it was said…
Read Full Article December 18, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Holiday Classic is now a two-game affair. The Quincy University men’s basketball program’s annual pre-Christmas event was originally scheduled to be a four-team, four-game showcase taking place Saturday and Sunday at Pepsi Arena. Now, it’s a three-team, two-game weekend. McKendree informed tournament organizers Friday it could not make the…
Read Full Article December 18, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Boys Basketball At Blue Devil Gym, Quincy Quincy High School 63, Moline 49. Click here for the story and photo gallery. At Camp Point, Ill. Quincy Notre Dame 43, Central 38: Click here for the story. At Mendon, Ill. Palmyra 55, Unity 48: Bear Bock did a little of everything for the Panthers, finishing with…
Read Full Article December 18, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — The innocence of youth and the confidence of experience. It’s a lethal combination a trio of Quincy High School freshmen seem to possess, and their brashness, play-making ability and no-fear attitude is creating problems for the rest of the Western Big 6 Conference boys basketball teams. Friday night, Moline discovered how devastating those…
Read Full Article December 17, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
The text came close to midnight as Ric Bailey needed to know his daughter, Quincy University women’s basketball coach Kaci Bailey, hadn’t been in the path of the tornadoes that skirted the St. Louis area and created a path of destruction moving past Edwardsville, Ill. “He was making sure I’m OK,” Bailey said. At the…
Read Full Article December 17, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Conference clashes, a crosstown showdown and a cornucopia of games taking place at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center highlight the final weekend before the Christmas break. It starts with the Quincy High School boys basketball team, tied for first place in the Western Big 6 Conference with Rock Island, squares off…
Read Full Article December 17, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
Girls Basketball At QHS gym, Quincy Moline 44, Quincy High School 32. Click here for the story. At Carthage, Ill. Illini West 72, Liberty 13: The Chargers held the Eagles without a field goal in the first quarter, had six players score from the field over the first eight minutes and improved to 10-1 with…
Read Full Article December 17, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — For a nine-minute stretch spanning the end of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter Thursday night, the Moline girls basketball team didn’t score. Quincy High School didn’t chisel away at the deficit either. The Blue Devils trailed 28-14 after the Maroons’ Caroline Hazen scored off a drive down the…
Read Full Article December 16, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — For the seventh straight season, the Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball teams will square off Saturday night in what has become a traditional pre-Christmas filled with spirit and a festive atmosphere befitting the holidays. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip at the Pit and will be…
Read Full Article December 16, 2021 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor
QUINCY — Jeremiah Talton’s breakaway, one-handed dunk in the third quarter last Friday night against Sterling added the punctuation mark to another blowout by the Quincy High School boys basketball team. Yet, it was his alley-oop dunk in the second quarter that kickstarted the rout. The Blue Devils led 26-17 when the Golden Warriors called…
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