Quarter century of memories: After assistant coach suffers heart attack, Blue Devils ‘had to do it for Coach Q’

Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman began covering the Quincy High School boys basketball program during the 1998-99 season, and since he recently wrapped up his 25th season following the Blue Devils, he put together a list of his 25 most memorable games. Here is today’s installment:

December 29, 2001 — Quincy 76, Chicago Julian 67

QUINCY — During his 11 seasons as an assistant coach, Jose Quintero implored the Quincy High School boys basketball players to strive to do one thing above all else.

“Play Blue Devil basketball,” he’d tell them.

How did he define that?

Tough, spirited and determined with a priority on defense and an unwillingness to lose.

When a health scare sent Quintero to the hospital during the Centralia Holiday Tournament in 2001, the Blue Devils knew exactly how they needed to respond. They had to play Blue Devil basketball, and that was bad news for state-ranked Chicago Julian.

After Quincy beat O’Fallon 63-59 in the second round, Quintero experienced chest pains and was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia. Once there, his heart stopped briefly and physicians revived him before having him airlifted to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.

The Blue Devils held what they called a “somber” team meeting later that evening, where they were told of Quintero’s situation and discussed what to do the next day.

It was quite clear.

“We had to play as hard as we could,” said Aaron Douglas, a senior on that squad. “We had to do it for Coach Q.”

All they had to do was play Blue Devil basketball, which they did.

Quincy pushed top-seeded Peoria Richwoods to the brink in the semifinals, losing 60-59 after the Knights’ John Little made two free throws with one second remaining in regulation. That happened after Marcus Medsker’s three-point play with 6.8 seconds remaining had given the Blue Devils the lead.

Despite the loss, the Blue Devils came back and beat second-seeded Chicago Julian 76-67 in the third-place game of the 59th annual tournament. It evened the Blue Devils’ overall record at 6-6 and reiterated what they could accomplish when playing with spirit, intensity and drive.

They played Blue Devil basketball just the way Quintero coached it.