Schuckman: Blue Devils’ camaraderie and love for each other brings proper perspective to milestone moments

QUINCY — Andy Douglas called timeout as soon as the ball tickled the twine.

He wasn’t letting this moment pass by.

With less than four minutes remaining in the first quarter of Friday night’s Western Big 6 Conference matchup with Geneseo, Quincy High School senior guard Bradley Longcor III buried a 3-pointer from the left corner off a skip pass from Dom Clay. It was Longcor’s third 3-pointer of the game and the 230th of his career, breaking Jeremiah Talton’s all-time record.

Douglas, now in his 11th season as the QHS boys basketball team’s head coach, immediately asked for a timeout so the public address announcer could relay the historic feat to the sizable Blue Devil Gym crowd and Longcor could be presented with a framed poster celebrating his accomplishment.

There was still plenty of game to be played — the Blue Devils won 72-25 as one of four games played on the opening night of the seventh Quincy Shootout — but Douglas didn’t want to skate past a rare historic moment like this.

“Honestly, in years past, it was just on to the next thing,” Douglas said. “I really didn’t take time to be in the moment with some of those milestones teams had, whether big or small. With (former assistant coach and Hall of Fame player Tom Lepper’s) passing — you shouldn’t have to have things put in perspective — it made me look at things with a little different perspective.

“I’m trying to be in the moment more. Watching Keshaun (Thomas) do what he did with the rebounding records and every step of that, and now to watch what Bradley’s done and continues to do, it’s special. These moments don’t come around that often.”

So why not celebrate them.

And why not embrace everything the Blue Devils are accomplishing.

Ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Class 4A state poll, Quincy is riding a six-game win streak, improved to 8-0 in the WB6 and is one victory shy of another 20-win season. But instead of being preoccupied with what this group wants to accomplish, Douglas is enjoying every accomplishment as they come.

“Last weekend, I got the chance to Neil Alexander,” Douglas said of the Lincoln coach who is the winningest active coach in Illinois and the state’s second winningest coach of all-time. “He said, ‘You don’t need my advice, but enjoy the heck out of this. Teams like this don’t come around a lot.’ And he’s right. It’s a special group.”

And it’s because of things other than victories, 3-pointers made or rebounds grabbed.

It’s the camaraderie they show and the appreciation for each other’s successes. The cheering is genuine. The celebrations are genuine. The support is genuine.

“With us growing up together, we’ve always been there for each other,” Longcor said. “To see us accomplishing things together at this level, that’s really cool. It’s about doing this together and making something big happen together.”

Thomas, who broke the single-game and career rebounding records in December, echoed that.

“I love to see Bradley get the record and recognition because he’s worked so hard for it,” Thomas said. “I love to see every one of these guys accomplish their goals. We’re here for each other and to do this for each other and fight for each other.”

Douglas has seen it for as long as this group has been together.

“They love each other,” the coach said. “They’re a really close group. It shows in how they play and how they cheer for each other.”

And how they are unified in chasing milestones and career accomplishments, hoping they can continue to stack historic markers on top of each other.

“The biggest one is to win the state championship,” Thomas said. “That’s an everybody award. That’s a whole town award. We all want that so bad. We want to do this for us, for each other, for everybody.”

That’s the kind of perspective everyone needs to embrace.