Raiders rebound from tough loss, find confidence and momentum heading into postseason

QUINCY — Enough was enough.

The Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball players needed to address the reasons why they lost to West Hancock on the road Tuesday night and what was contributing to the Raiders’ recent slump.

So when the coaching staff gathered them for practice at the Pit, the Raiders seized the opportunity to speak their mind and reset everything.

“We had a meeting and stuff was said and we fixed it,” junior guard Braden Sheffield said. “It was both players and coaches. I just think we needed that. We needed to get what everyone was thinking and put it on the table. That’s how we fixed it.”

The Raiders regained some mojo just in time for the postseason to begin. Friday night’s 69-43 victory over Keokuk (Iowa) changed the momentum ahead of Saturday’s Class 2A Beardstown Regional quarterfinal matchup against Rushville-Industry.

“It was crazy important,” Sheffield said. “We needed this. We needed a boost to get us out of the slump we were in.”

The loss to West Hancock probably stung more than any of the other recent setbacks — QND had lost four of its last six games prior to Friday night — because the Raiders allowed the Titans to make 13 3-pointers and never adjusted defensively.

Nothing about that effort sat well with anyone within the QND program.

“It’s never good to lose, especially going into postseason,” junior forward Jake Wallingford said. “All the guys came together and said, ‘We really need to get it together.’ So tonight, we just came out and played.”

The Raiders (17-11) got after it defensively, too.

A 3-pointer by Sheffield, who had 15 points, within the game’s first minute was followed by a steal and a Jackson Stratton layup for a 5-0 lead. A couple minutes later, Blake Bozarth knocked down a 3-pointer, and an immediate steal led to a Jake Hoyt layin and an 11-2 edge that forced Chiefs coach Zach Summers to call a timeout.

QND’s advantage reached 19-5 by the end of the first quarter.

“It was important to shake off the bad feeling we had on Tuesday night, regroup, fly around a little bit and have some fun,” QND coach Kevin Meyer said. 

That was part of the theme of the team meeting.

“At the end of the day, my name is on the door and I have to answer to the administration, but it’s their team,” Meyer said. “We talk about that a lot. … Having their voice is really important. That’s when you know you have a team that is engaged and checked in when they do share some stuff with you.

“I think there was some good feedback from them. We could have used a little bit more, but at least there was some and that was important.”

It translated into a dynamic defensive effort.

“Going into the postseason on a big win is always good,” said Wallingford, who led the Raiders with 16 points. “We created a lot of turnovers on the press and were flying around. You could see we were playing with confidence.”

It has to continue to have a shot at a regional championship.

“If we push people to the side and not allow baseline drives, we can compete with anyone,” Sheffield said.