Blue Devils complete their mission to finally win title at Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Mission accomplished.

After losing back-to-back years in the championship game of the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic, the Quincy High School boys basketball players set a goal — actually they made it their mission — to win the title this season as a springboard into 2025.

In fact, almost two months ago when asked about the upcoming season, senior guard Kamren Wires talked openly about a list of goals the Blue Devils were chasing.

“One of them is checked off the list now,” Wires said late Sunday night.

It’s a significant one.

The Blue Devils, ranked second in Class 4A, won their first holiday tournament championship in nearly three decades, defeating The Woodlands Christian Academy (Texas) 68-47 in the title game at Vergil Fletcher Gym for their fifth Collinsville crown overall. 

The last one came in 1997 when Quincy coach Andy Douglas was a sophomore guard sitting on the bench.

“A long time coming,” Douglas said. “We were sitting here trying to do the math of 1997 to 2024 and it was a long time coming. You think of all the moments you had to compete for it, but the last couple of years coming up short stuck with you. It gave them something to shoot for.”

It made the Blue Devils mission oriented.

“Nothing was going to stand in our way,” said senior forward Keshaun Thomas, who was named the tournament MVP. “We wanted this.”

There was nothing the Warriors could do to stop that.

Quincy (13-0) made six of its first seven field-goal attempts, knocking down five 3-pointers and bolting to a 17-8 lead just 4 minutes, 24 seconds into the game. Two possessions later, Dom Clay converted a three-point play for a double-digit lead.

“You want to get off to a great start every game,” Douglas said. “But in games like this, with a championship on the line, you want to be able to throw the first blows. Not only did we throw them, but we landed them.”

It was one right after another.

“Once we see a couple of shots falling, it leads to the confidence to keep shooting and running our plays,” said Thomas, who went 5 of 7 from 3-point range and finished with 20 points and nin rebounds. “When we have open shots, we’re going to shoot them. And they just kept falling.” 

The Woodlands got within eight points on Trevion Ogburn’s 3-pointer late in the first quarter, but Quincy’s Mark Louthan buried a 3-pointer from the right corner off a Bradley Longcor III assist on the final possession of the quarter for a 25-14 lead.

The Blue Devils led by double digits the remainder of the game.

“Their coach just kept saying, ‘They’re too open. They’re too open,’” Thomas said. “They were all over the place on defense, and I think them being discombobulated helped us out a lot.”

Everyone got involved in the action.

Clay led the Blue Devils with 23 points, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Longcor finished with 16 points and six assists, while Louthan had eight points.

“All five guys came in with the same exact same attitude and the same exact same saying,” Wires said. “We wanted to win this tournament. So we all put it all out there more than any other team, and we did it every single game.

“It was one goal in mind, and we were just chasing it and chasing it. When the buzzer rang, we knew what it felt like to win it.”

Defense played just as big a part in the final product as the Warriors shot just 32 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range. 

The Woodlands senior forward Howie Keene, the son of Collinsville all-state guard Richard Keene who led the tournament in scoring at 21.7 points per game through three games, didn’t make a field goal until 3:05 remained in regulation and the Warriors trailing by 22.

Keene, who has signed with Montana State, finished with just eight points as he went 3 of 13 from the field, 2 of 9 from 3-point range and 0 of 4 from the free-throw line.

“It was the whole group on the floor playing defense,” Douglas said. “It was everybody being in position. Obviously, (Keshaun) did an unbelievable job guarding Keene and making everything difficult for him. Mark Louthan off the ball was great at providing help. Kamren up front applying pressure was big. It was everyone.”

It’s why everyone put their hands on the championship trophy afterward.

“It feels amazing,” Thomas said. “Everyone was just so happy. It was very emotional. You had some players crying, some cheering. It’s just a great time.”

It was the realization of a mission fulfilled.

“That was one of the best feelings I’ve had in a minute,” Wires said.