Reality check: Blue Devils react to Wildcats’ second-half run with strong closing kick

QUINCY — A quick glance at the scoreboard told the Quincy High School boys basketball players all they needed to know.

A boat race had become a dogfight.

“It woke us up to reality,” junior forward Keshaun Thomas said.

The Blue Devils had nearly doubled up Chicago Phillips three minutes into the second half Thursday night, leading 50-26 after Camden Brown’s drive along the right baseline. That’s when the Wildcats turned up the full-court pressure, created some chaos and went on a 28-7 run to pull within 57-54 on Amari Edwards’ off-balance 3-pointer with 2:49 remaining in regulation.

“The fact that they just punched us in the mouth and came all the back, it was like, ‘Dang,’” Thomas said. “We had to slow it down. We got sped up and it took us out of our game.”

Forced to call a timeout when an inbounds pass led to Kamren Wires getting trapped in the corner, the Blue Devils used the respite to reset and regroup.

Twelve seconds later, senior guard Tyler Sprick delivered a nifty entry pass to Thomas, who had position on the block and scored to ignite aa 12-4 closing stretch that resulted in a 69-58 victory on the opening night of the 52nd QHS Thanksgiving Tournament at Blue Devil Gym.

“Adversity is what we need,” Sprick said. “We’re going to play good teams this year, but knowing we can come together and fight back is huge. We’re going to dive into film tomorrow and look at all the bad things we did, but the positive we can take away  is coming together, fighting through and getting the win.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about a win or a loss.”

During that pivotal fourth-quarter timeout, Quincy coach Andy Douglas emphasized they still had the lead and the ability to close it out. 

“He did a great job of bringing us together and reminding us to just run our stuff,” Sprick said.

Douglas was equally frustrated it had gotten to that point.

“We did a poor job of playing aggressive,” he said. “We get a big lead and then we want to play it soft. We have to be a team that puts our foot on the throat of our opponent and buries them.”

The opportunity was there.

Quincy grabbed an 8-4 lead three minutes into the game and never trailed thereafter, although a nine-point first quarter lead was whittled to 18-16. However, a 22-8 second quarter in which Ralph Wires scored seven of his 12 first-half points gave the Blue Devils a comfortable 40-24 halftime edge.

Wires led the Blue Devils with 18 points, while Thomas finished with 17 and Brown added 14.

“I felt we moved the ball very good,” Thomas said. “We had a lot of people who came in and did what they needed to do.”

Until the midpoint of the third quarter.

That’s when Phillips’ defense began dictating everything.

“They allowed us to shoot 15-foot jump shots at times, and that’s not our best shot,” Douglas said. “It’s important for us to get the best look every possession, and we didn’t. We had five or six empty possessions without a shot, and then we have a couple thrown in where we had shot turnovers because we took bad shots.”

Wildcats junior guard EJ Horton scored a game-high 21 points, while Edwards had 17. They combined for 17 points in the critical second-half run.

“They’re quick, and we’re going to play a lot of quick teams this year,” Douglas said.

The Blue Devils are quick, too. And they’re unselfish, which is why eight of the nine players to see the court scored.

“You look up at the scoreboard and there are points here, points there, points everywhere,” Sprick said. “It wasn’t just points. We got stops. We had guys taking charges. Overall, we had guys do this together. This was a team win.”

In the first game, Springfield Lanphier scored a 78-62 victory over Tinley Park. Junior forward Shaunessey Hatchett Jr. led the Lions with 20 points, while junior guard JaiQuan Holman had 18 points. Senior guard Dashawn Allen led the Titans with 19 points.