Blue Devils’ Longcor is named WB6 MVP, Thomas joins him on all-conference first team

QUINCY — Bradley Longcor III’s performance in the final two games of the Western Big 6 Conference boys basketball title chase elevated Quincy High School to its 25th league crown and pushed the junior guard to the forefront as the league’s top player.

Thursday, the WB6 coaches confirmed that.

Longcor was named the conference MVP and a first-team All-WB6 selection after guiding the Blue Devils to a 12-2 record and winning the championship after beating Rock Island twice in a three-day span to close the regular season.

Longcor scored a team-high 17 points in a 58-49 victory over the Rocks that forged a tie for first place and followed it up with a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers, in the 58-46 victory in the winner-take-all showdown.

The 6-foot-3 Longcor averaged 15.7 points in league play, which was fourth best, while shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 46.6 percent from 3-point range. He also was fourth in the league in assists at 2.8 per game and steals at 1.7 per game.

Quincy junior forward Keshaun Thomas also earned first-team all-league honors as he finished among the league’s scoring and rebounding leaders. The 6-foot-5 Thomas averaged 12 points per game and tied with Sterling’s Lucas Austin as the top rebounder at 7.1 boards per game.

Thomas shot 52.3 percent from the field and was the league’s best free-throw shooter at 86.4 percent, making 38 of 44 attempts.

The other players named to the first team were Austin, Rock Island senior guard KJ Lamonte and Moline junior forward Trey Taylor. Austin led the league in scoring at 18.7 points per game, while Lamonte averaged 18.4 points. Taylor averaged 15.4 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Second-team selections were Quincy senior guard Camden Brown, Sterling senior guard Andre Klaver, Moline junior forward Braden Freeman, Rock Island senior forward Dezmund Jackson and United Township senior guard Dominic Rhoden.

Brown averaged 10.4 points and shot 47.6 percent from the field in WB6 play.

Honorable mention selections were Rock Island senior guard Larry Olivier Jr., United Township senior guard Caeden Terrell and Galesburg junior forward Tyree Taylor.