Liquor Booth Shot of the Game: Talton’s dunk brings Blue Devil Gym to life

QUINCY — Trying to find the right footing during the regular season finale against Galesburg on Tuesday night at Blue Devil Gym, the Quincy High School boys basketball team needed a jolt.

Jeremiah Talton provided it.

Trailing 11-9 with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Talton contested a shot by the Silver Streaks’ Jeremiah Babers. The ball caromed off the backboard without hitting the rim, and Talton, who had fallen out of bounds after contact with Babers, stepped back in and tipped the loose rebound forward.

Talton and Galesburg’s Alex Egipciaco both went after the loose ball, and it was tipped toward midcourt along the right sideline. Talton tracked it down, tip-toed along the sideline to save and it and pushed into the frontcourt in transition. 

“I didn’t know I was going to be able to keep it in,” Talton said. “Luckily, I was able to keep it in and I landed the dunk.”

He finished the play with a two-handed slam that brought the sizable Blue Devil Gym crowd to its feet.

“A lot of excitement,” Talton said. “You’ve got the bench going crazy, the crowd going crazy. It felt good.”

It sparked the Blue Devils, who took a 17-15 lead by the end of the quarter and finished off a 13-1 Western Big 6 Conference campaign with a 65-57 victory and the WB6 outright championship.

Talton’s dunk is this week’s Liquor Booth Shot of the Game.