SuperFan Shootout: After three quarters of ‘horrible,’ ‘ugly’ basketball, Raiders’ rally falls one point short

QUINCY — Jake Hoyt called it “horrible.” Kevin Meyer called it “ugly.”

No matter how exciting the finish was in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s game between the Quincy Notre Dame and Jacksonville Routt boys basketball teams during the SuperFan Shootout at the Pit, the Raiders couldn’t overcome three quarters of abysmal play in a 36-35 loss.

The Raiders, who never led, had a chance to win the game with 3.4 seconds remaining. Hoyt inbounded the ball on the sideline across from the QND bench to Alex Connoyer, who had curled off a screen. Connoyer tossed it back to Hoyt, who dribbled once and pulled up for an open 15-foot jump shot that hit the front of the rim.

“We got the shot we wanted,” Hoyt said. “Just gotta finish it.”

“We hoped to get him to the basket,” said Meyer, the Raiders’ coach. “He got a clean look.”

The first 24 minutes of the game were anything but clean for Quincy Notre Dame (14-8).

The Raiders scored a season-low 11 points in the first half, missing 17 of 22 shots to trail by 10 at halftime. Jacksonville Routt then opened the lead to 26-11 with a free throw by Braden Cors and two layups by Gus Abell to start the third quarter.

“We were really slow on offense and defense, didn’t get any stops or make any layups (in the first half),” Hoyt said. “We just kind of dug ourselves a hole throughout the game.”

“I thought we were prepared for tonight,” Meyer said. “What really hurt us tonight was the boards. They destroyed us on the boards, and that led to free throws, too. They made more free throws (eight) than we shot (six). They had more turnovers (17) than we did (10). We had more 3-point baskets (3) than they did (2). You usually don’t lose those games, except for the job we did on the glass. That’s where the game got away from us.”

The Rockets (20-5) didn’t make another field goal in the third quarter, and the Raiders trimmed the score to 28-18 entering the fourth quarter.

Routt had four turnovers and three missed shots to start the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, QND got a 3-pointer from Hoyt, a 10-footer from Jackson Stratton and an offensive rebound basket from Connoyer to get within 28-25 with 5:47 left in the game. 

Nolan Killion stemmed the tide with a layup for the Rockets, but Stratton tied the score at 30 with two free throws and a 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining.

The Rockets remembered to get the ball inside to Abell, who scored on a post-up move with 3:26 remaining. He followed that with a three-point play with 2:05 left.

Braden Sheffield scored with 1:34 to play to get QND within 35-32, but after a Routt turnover, Stratton missed a potential game-tying 3-point shot. Cors split two free throws with 37 seconds left, and a 3-pointer by Sheffield from the right wing cut Routt’s lead to 36-35 with 28 seconds left.

Killion missed the front end of a one-and-one with 16 seconds left to set up the final shot for the Raiders.

“Kind of the problem we’ve had all season is starting off slow,” Hoyt said. “We start off games kind of digging ourselves a hole. Sometimes we’re able to crawl ourselves back out, but tonight we weren’t able to.”

“That (game) had a postseason feel,” Meyer said. “When you get into the postseason, it’s fight or flight, and I thought we did a good job of fighting tonight. That’s how quickly the season can be over if you don’t perform for 32 minutes. That’s the message we’re trying to drive home.”

Abell led the Rockets with 17 points. Sheffield had 10 for the Raiders.