Illinois girls basketball regionals: QND fends off Plains in second half, QHS cannot stop Alton’s run

The difference between the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team advancing to a regional championship and Quincy High School falling short of that goal is a matter of minutes, not so much a matter of points.

The Raiders shut down Pleasant Plains long enough to survive.

The Blue Devils needed 90 seconds of timely stops to potentially derail Alton.

QND, the top-seeded team in its Class 2A sub-sectional, held Pleasant Plains to 12 points in the first half Tuesday night and rolled to a 50-34 victory in the Class 2A Sacred Heart-Griffin Regional semifinals.

Meanwhile, at the Class 4A Edwardsville Regional, sixth-seeded QHS trailed third-seeded Alton 24-23 late in the second quarter, but the Redbirds closed the half on a 6-0 run and used the momentum to slingshot them to a 64-48 victory.

The Raiders (25-3) advance to face sixth-seeded Williamsville in the regional championship at 7 p.m. Thursday. 

QND built a 21-4 lead in the first half and held Pleasant Plains to single digits before Jaycee Smith buried a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to pull the Cardinals within 24-12. The Raiders scored the first six points of the third quarter, but a 12-3 run pulled the Cardinals within 33-24 heading to the fourth quarter.

A 6-2 run to start the fourth quarter got Pleasant Plains within 35-30 with 5:20 to play before junior Abbey Schreacke thwarted the rally with consecutive baskets.

Schreacke finished with 27 points, while Blair Eftink added 11. Smith led Plains with 14 points.

At Edwardsville, QHS struggled to get shots to fall in the first quarter, but held Alton to four points the first six minutes of the second quarter to chisel away at the deficit. The final three baskets of the half scored by the Redbirds were a backbreaker.

“They shot the ball well,” QHS coach Brad Dance said. “When we got out and guarded, a couple of their guards beat us off dribble penetration. They made it tough on us.”

Sophomore forward Taylor Fohey led the Blue Devils with 21 points and junior guard Asia Seangmany finished with 17. Quincy ends its season with a 12-10 record.