Blue Devils handle first leg of weekend road trip with swift offensive execution

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Quincy High School boys basketball team didn’t want to linger at Don Morris Gym any longer than necessary.

An opportunistic offense made sure the exit was swift.

Quincy opened Friday night’s Western Big 6 Conference matchup against Rock Island Alleman on a 22-4 run, led by 33 points at halftime and used a running clock to finish off an 86-39 victory in less than 75 minutes.

That allowed the Blue Devils (15-1, 5-0 WB6) to be back on the road shortly after 8:30 p.m., arrive home around 11:30 p.m. and get ample rest before boarding another charter bus for another three-hour tour.

“It’s beneficial,” Quincy coach Andy Douglas said of the quick victory. “Having to go back-to-back on the road with a different start time than we’re used to, this is good. The guys can get a few hours of sleep in their own bed and be ready to go at it (Saturday).”

Quincy, ranked seventh in Class 4A, is scheduled to play St. Louis Cardinal Ritter at noon Saturday in the Highland Shootout in Highland, Ill. Cardinal Ritter (4-7) beat St. Louis Duchesne on Friday and is coming off a first half of the season in which the Lions traveled to Texas, Utah and Delaware for games.

“It’s a challenge and we want to be challenged,” Douglas said.

Following the first victory of 2024, there wasn’t much sleep on the bus Friday night.

“It got a little quiet about an hour into the trip home,” Douglas said. “We didn’t do a movie. It was just relaxing and getting their minds right.”

Despite the windshield time the Blue Devils are facing, the overwhelming effort against the Pioneers allowed them to empty the bench and save their legs for what is expected to be a more rigorous affair Saturday.

Bradley Longcor III led the Blue Devils with 18 points, while Dom Clay finished with 16.

“We wanted everything to be as crisp as possible,” Douglas said. “We didn’t want to start out sloppy or end sloppy. When you’re playing a quick turnaround in games, the last thing you want is for sloppy play to carry over. Knock on wood, we took care of business in that regard.”

Cardinal Ritter is ranked as one of the top 10 small school teams in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch power poll and had the second strongest small school strength of schedule in another poll.

The Lions won the Missouri Class 5 state championship last season, have been bumped up to Class 6 because of the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s championship factor and return the core of the title team, including senior guard Clayton Jackson.