Quarter century of memories: Fairley’s buzzer-beater results in wild ride out of Blue Devil Gym

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

February 19, 2011 — Quincy 68, Neuqua Valley 66

QUINCY — Mason Fairley cannot remember why Quincy High School boys basketball coach Sean Taylor decided to have him play the entire sophomore game when Naperville Neuqua Valley came to Blue Devil Gym in February 2011.

“For some reason I was in the doghouse with Coach Taylor,” said Fairley, who typically played the first half of the sophomore game and was available to play the entire varsity game during the 2010-11 season. “I don’t know if I was struggling or what happened.”

Whatever the reason, it worked out well for the QHS sophomores.

“I scored 27 points and we won,” Fairley said.

Everything that had taken place in practice and that morning’s shootaround made Fairley believe that’s where his night would end.

“I got no reps with the first team,” Fairley said. “So I’m thinking I’m not even going to play in the varsity game. We had gotten the scouting report and they were top-10 in the state and really good. They were big, they were long, they could shoot it.

“I’m not expecting to play because I hadn’t practiced with the No. 1 squad and I figured (Taylor) wasn’t going to use me in the varsity game which is why I got four quarters in with the sophomores.”

Fairley didn’t get the night off, and because of that, the Blue Devils scored an upset.

A 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, Fairley was the second option on an inbounds play with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied at 66. He caught a Mitch Marold pass and immediately shot a 10-foot jumper along the right baseline, hitting nothing but net to give the Blue Devils a 68-66 victory.

As Fairley and his teammates celebrated by running across the floor, the QHS student section rushed the court, swallowed him up and carried him from one end of Blue Devil Gym to the other, out the doors in the southwest corner and into the hallway, before returning through the southeast entrance.

“I remember it well,” said Fairley, who also hit a buzzer-beater against Poplar Bluff (Mo.) to start that season during the QHS Thanksgiving Tournament. “It was crazy.”

It wasn’t the outcome anyone expected. The Blue Devils were 10-13 and coming off a 31-point loss to Rock Island the night before, while the Wildcats were 20-6 and featured a lineup with three starters 6-foot-3 or taller.

However, Quincy junior forward DeAngelo Dean scored a career-high 29 points, the final three of which were critical. With 6.7 seconds remaining in regulation and the Blue Devils trailing by three, Dean hit a 3-pointer — his first of the season — to tie the game. Neuqua Valley attempted to throw a length-of-the-floor pass coming out of a timeout, but the ball sailed wide of the target and landed out of bounds without anyone touching it.

That gave Quincy possession under its own basket with no time coming off the block. Taylor set up a play for Dean, having him roll off a Fairley screen. The Wildcats double-teamed Dean, which allowed Fairley to roll free and hit the game-winning shot.

“Coach Taylor told me to leak out to the baseline and just be ready to shoot,” Fairley said.

The celebration was unlike any other.

“I remember watching the video and seeing (assistant coach Tom Lepper) doing jumping jacks across the floor after I made the shot,” Fairley said.

Memories like that make the moments come to life.

“Every once in a while, (Fairley’s older brother Mitchell) and I will start going through and talking about stuff when we played,” he said. “You remember the score, you remember where you were, you remember little details about the gym. So many good memories and how that is all wrapped up with high school basketball is so special.”