Redbirds’ first-quarter salvo too much for Blue Devils to overcome in regional title game loss

GRANITE CITY, Ill. — With 4:43 remaining in regulation Friday night, Quincy High School girls basketball coach Brad Dance called his final timeout of the season.

“I just challenged the girls,” Dance said.

The Blue Devils trailed top-seeded Alton by 27 points in the Class 4A Granite City Regional championship, having played from behind since the Redbirds’ 11-2 opening salvo, and knew a miraculous comeback wasn’t in the works. That didn’t mean one strong final push couldn’t send a message for the future.

“I told them, ‘This group will be here for the next year, two or possibly three years and you have to have a little fight here and show what you can do,’” said Dance, who started one junior, three sophomores and one freshman. “Don’t go down without a fight. They competed. I was proud of the way the girls competed.”

It wasn’t enough to keep Alton’s senior-laden squad with a distinct size advantage from advancing.

The Redbirds, who finished the regular season ranked fourth in Class 4A, built a 22-4 lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 65-40 victory. Alton (30-2) will face O’Fallon (24-9) in Tuesday’s semifinals of the Alton Sectional, while the Blue Devils bow out with a 20-11 record.

“I’ll give our girls credit,” Dance said. “They battled.”

They just got overwhelmed early.

The Redbirds missed four of their first six field-goal attempts, but they snared two offensive rebounds in that stretch and made a pair of putbacks to set the tone for what was to come. Following Jarius Powers’ second-chance basket that made it 4-0, the Redbirds scored on four consecutive possessions.

By the time Kiyoko Proctor hit her second 3-pointer of the first quarter with a minute remaining, the advantage had grown to 22-4.

“It was the second-chance points that hurt us,” said Dance, whose team allowed eight second-chance points during that run.

Powers and Talia Norman — both are 6-foot or taller — combined for 14 points in the first quarter.

“That’s a lot for anybody to guard,” Dance said.

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils struggled offensively. They committed seven first-quarter turnovers and turned to sophomore guard Cameron Byquist for the only scoring punch. Byquist scored twice off dribble penetration from the right wing as Quincy attempted only five shots in the first seven minutes.

“We turned the ball over way too much and a lot of it was unforced,” Dance said. “We were trying to play fast and get up and down the floor and we didn’t value our possessions.”

Jada Brown finished with 12 points, while Byquist and Myley Longcor each had 10 points.

“They worked hard and really battled,” Dance said. “I was proud of their fight.”