Blue Devils look to recharge themselves following overtime loss in Sophie Cunningham Classic

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Quincy High School girls basketball team plays only one game in the next 10 days, giving the Blue Devils a chance to recharge, refocus and recover.

All are needed.

Sunday’s 60-54 overtime loss to Strafford (Mo.) in the Sophie Cunningham Classic at Columbia College’s Southwell Complex marked Quincy’s third game in four days, two of which went overtime and all were decided by six points or less. If that wasn’t taxing enough on a short roster, injuries made it worse.

Junior guard Madelyn Hamby suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter of Saturday’s victory over Principia (Mo.) and was able to play through it, while senior forward Kate Mettemeyer went down with a knee injury in the fourth quarter against Strafford. She will see a physician Monday, but the remainder of her season could be in jeopardy.

That would leave the Blue Devils without a starter and their only senior.

“You hate to see that,” Quincy coach Brad Dance said. “We all hope she’s OK.”

He plans to give the rest of the Blue Devils (13-6) a couple days off during this stretch to recover.

“We need to get back to practicing a little bit, too, so we can clean up things,” Dance said.

That mainly will be rebounding and executing on the offensive end.

The Indians, who are among the others receiving votes in the Class 4 state poll, attempted 14 more shots as they collected 13 offensive rebounds. Kinley Larson led Strafford with a game-high 34 points and eight 3-pointers made, while Trista Vanhorn finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

“We’re just getting outrebounded by a lot right now,” Dance said. “That has to change.”

Sophomore forward Jada Brown led the Blue Devils with 25 points and four rebounds, while Hamby had 11 points, sophomore Myley Longcor finished with eight and freshman Khloe Nicholson had six points, seven assists and five steals.

Quincy shot 46.5 percent from the field, compared to 33.3 percent for Strafford.

“We are making some progress on the offensive end,” Dance said. “Sometimes you take one step forward and two steps back, so we need to work on some things in practice to make sure we keep taking steps forward.”