QND fails to stand up to No. 4-ranked Sacred Heart-Griffin’s defensive pressure

QUINCY — Take a good look, Quincy Notre Dame fans.

The level of play exhibited by the Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin boys basketball team on Friday is likely the standard any Class 2A team in western and central Illinois will need to meet if it hopes to make a deep postseason run.

And not just this year. The next two years.

The Cyclones (4-2), ranked No. 4 in the first Associated Press Class 2A poll that was released this week, took command by racing to a 16-2 lead in the first quarter and trounced the Raiders 66-42 at the Pit.

“Coach (Kevin Meyer) said to us after the game, ‘That’s the skill level we need to be at by the end of the season if we’re gonna make a run or if we want to compete with teams in our area,’” senior Blake Bozarth said. “I don’t think we’re far off. We just need to relax. We need to focus on making our shots, playing good defense and getting together as a team more. 

“That’s how we’re going to beat strong teams like that.”

SHG, with five juniors in the starting lineup, punched QND in the mouth in the game’s first six minutes. After the teams traded baskets to start the game, the Cyclones scored the game’s next 14 points. Five players scored in the run that was capped by a layup from Ty Lott after a Raiders turnover with 1:52 left in the quarter.

The Raiders’ response was encouraging. Junior Braden Sheffield outscored the Cyclones 10-2 in the first two minutes of the second quarter. A layup by Jake Wallingford cut the SHG lead to 25-20. 

The Cyclones then scored eight straight points, with Jake Hamilton scoring twice on steals. But QND fought back again, finishing the quarter with a 12-4 run. Jackson Stratton hit a pair of late 3-pointers, and an offensive rebound bucket by Alex Connoyer got the Raiders within 37-32 at halftime.

SHG opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run, finished it with another 8-0 run and outscored the Raiders 18-4. QND never got closer than 17 points thereafter.

“We’ve always talked about the first three minutes of the third quarter. You have to own it,” Meyer said. “Tonight, we lost ownership in that third quarter, and it ended up being a 24-point game.

“They ratcheted up their pressure. I thought the second quarter was our identity, and I thought they said, ‘Hey, wait a minute. Maybe the second quarter wasn’t our identity.’ We came out and expected them to kind of play that same way, and they didn’t. They ratcheted it up. We didn’t match that effort.”

Nine QND turnovers led directly to SHG layups. Four of them came in the decisive third quarter.

Hamilton scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. He was on the bench for the final 2:46 of the second quarter with two fouls. The Cyclones had seven other players score between five and 10 points.

“That’s the best team on our schedule,” Meyer said. “I mean that hands down. They have so many weapons. It seemed like every loose ball was falling into their hands, and I don’t think they missed a mid-range jump shot. Hats off to those guys.”

Sheffield had 12 points to lead the Raiders, who made only four baskets in the second half. QND struggled offensively this week against two state-ranked teams. It was limited to 48 points in a 14-point loss Tuesday at Monroe City, ranked No. 1 in Missouri’s Class 3.

“We’re four games into our new offense, so that’s a little bit of it, but we’ve got to defend better,” Meyer said. “That becomes part of that answer. Part of our scoring is getting runouts to score. We didn’t get that tonight. I said Tuesday night 48 was going to be our lowest point total of the season. Now we’ve got to reevaluate that and come back.

“(Monroe City and SHG) are the teams we want to be like at the end of the year.”

Quincy Notre Dame’s game scheduled for Saturday against No. 5-ranked Macomb has been postponed for “precautionary reasons,” according to athletic director Bill Connell. Macomb also postponed its game on Friday against Abingdon. A makeup date has not been scheduled.