Raiders gain instant energy when Lavery, Bocke come off bench and change tone of semifinal win

STANFORD, Ill. — Charlie Lavery embraced the moment with vigor.

Then Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball coach Kevin Meyer reminded him the job wasn’t complete.

The Raiders led Maroa-Forsyth by 14 points with a little more than six minutes to play Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Class 2A Stanford Olympia Sectional when Lavery, a junior guard who comes off the bench, drove hard to the basket, made the layin and was fouled.

With the crowd and his teammates hooting and hollering, Lavery stood in front of the QND bench and flexed his biceps.

“He’s down there flexing and I’m like, ‘Put the muscles away and go make the free throw,’” Meyer said.

So Lavery did, completing the three-point play for a 54-37 advantage that ultimately became a 60-42 victory highlighted by the energetic lift Lavery and junior forward Josh Bocke provided.

The Raiders trailed 11-10 in the first quarter when the duo came off the bench and sparked a 6-0 run to close the frame. Lavery started the stretch with a left-handed layup with 1:22 to go and then fed forward Jake Wallingford for a bucket from the block. Braden Sheffield capped the run with a layup with 28.5 seconds left.

QND never trailed again, going on a 6-0 run to start the second quarter highlighted by Jackson Stratton’s four-point play. The change in energy, enthusiasm and effort was a direct corollary to Lavery and Bocke’s insertion into the lineup.

“Those guys were huge,” Meyer said. “Our bench has been really good all season. Those two did so much for us. Charlie plays with a ton of energy. Josh does all the little things that don’t show up in the scorebook. They really did give us a lift.”

That’s their job. 

“Just come out there, bring energy and get us going,” Bocke said. “Give us a second life.”

It was needed. QND failed to score on its first possessions, didn’t score until Alex Connoyer drove the left baseline for a layin with 5:25 to go and gave up five offensive rebounds will falling into an 11-10 deficit.

“Just getting off the bus, waking up finally and getting it going,” Lavery said. “We needed to do that. We had to find that.”

Lavery typically provides that.

“I feel like I’m the energy guy coming off the bench and getting the team back in it if we’re down or getting us ready for a run if we’re playing well,” Lavery said.

He added scoring to his chores against the Trojans, finishing with seven points.

“I don’t need to be a scorer,” Lavery said. “I like to get my teammates the ball, too. But I have to come through for my team when I need to.”

Bocke added four points, but he supplied some toughness in the post and grabbed four rebounds.

“Just box out and get rebounds,” Bocke said. “I had to do what was needed.”

That earns valuable minutes.

“They’ve worked their way in through straight hard work in order to get some playing time,” QND junior point guard Jake Hoyt said. “They’ve earned it. They come out here and they get those minutes and they use them to the best of their abilities.”