Thomas, top-ranked Blue Devils refuse to coast, keep energy high throughout victory over Senators

QUINCY — Keshaun Thomas despises the idea of coasting into halftime.

“Everybody has to go out there and hustle their hardest, no matter how much we’re up,” said Thomas, the 6-foot-6 senior forward with a relentless motor who has helped the Quincy High School boys basketball rise to No. 1 in the Class 4A state poll.

So with the clock ticking into the final minute of the first half Saturday night and the Blue Devils leading Springfield by 18 points, Thomas made a pair of plays that epitomized the idea of playing until the final buzzer.

First, after the Senators grabbed an offensive rebound and attacked the baseline for what appeared to be a layin for Kevin Salimtoua, Thomas rotated across the lane and blocked the shot, sending it toward the left corner of the court.

Thomas raced to keep it from going out of bounds, diving and smacking the ball ahead to Quincy’s Dom Clay near midcourt. Clay turned it into a layin with 30 seconds left. 

“I knew we were up 20 or close to it at that moment, but I wasn’t going to let them have anything easy,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t going to give up an easy layup.”

Or give away a possession.

“I knew I had to save it no matter what,” Thomas said.

That kind of effort led to a 22-point halftime advantage and an 80-56 victory at Blue Devil Gym.

“Those plays do a lot for us,” Thomas said. “The momentum, the energy. It got so loud in here. Everybody was cheering. That just helps get us going. We took that momentum into halftime and came back out playing our game.”

Relentless plays like Thomas made could be the difference between an early playoff exit and a trip to Champaign, and the Blue Devils are well aware of that.

“We feed off energy like that,” Clay said. “We feed off blocks. We feed off steals. Tipped balls get us going. Getting in people defensively is a big thing. We get ourselves hyped and we don’t take plays off. That’s what plays like that do. It tells us to never take a play off.”

Thomas’ recovery after being caught away from the basket was as important as the block, the dive and the save.

“We’ve talked extensively about how we have to have a foot-on-the-throat mentality, how we have to close halves out and close games out,” Quincy coach Andy Douglas said. “Being content is not what this group is about and is not what’s going to get us to our goals.

“For him to make that play off a busted defensive play — he found a way to make it up — was huge because it saved another possession. Our guys know they can score with any possession.”

The Blue Devils (15-1) did so throughout.

Bradley Longcor III knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half and scored a game-high 21 points. Thomas finished with 18 points, Clay had 14 and Kamren Wires scored 10. Milton Whitfield, a junior guard who became eligible Saturday after serving a suspension for a violation of school policy, scored eight points off the bench, including a second-half dunk.

And the defense was dynamic, limiting the Senators to 17 first-half points and forcing 10 first-half turnovers.

“To come out with the defensive focus that we had, the energy that we had showed you where their mindset is,” Douglas said. “Guys were in their stance and engaged. We came out and focused on it.”

Laser focus will be necessary next week as the Blue Devils play a three-game gauntlet beginning with Tuesday’s road trip to Moline (15-3) and finishing with Friday’s home game against Rock Island (17-1) and Saturday’s home game against Lincoln (10-5).

“If we keep playing our game, we hopefully will see a good outcome,” Thomas said.

All it takes is momentum and energy.

“And we just keep being us,” Clay said.