Tourney title showcases Blue Devils’ ability to share basketball, credit and trust

QUINCY — Playing with an edge isn’t the same as playing with an ego.

The Quincy High School boys basketball players are discovering the difference.

The Blue Devils’ edge is their aggressive approach defensively, which creates turnovers and opportunities to score in transition, and their belief they can score on any opponent at any time.

Their egos? They’ve remained tucked away in the locker room through the season’s first three games, leading to unselfish play, better shot selection and a different leading scorer each night, often a different hot hand in each half.

Saturday night, in a 64-51 victory over Springfield Lanphier in the final game of the 52nd QHS Thanksgiving Tournament at Blue Devil Gym, tournament MVP Camden Brown scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half while junior forward Keshaun Thomas had 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half.

“The big thing we’re seeing this year that’s different from last year is we’ve put the egos aside with each other,” said senior guard Ralph Wires, the third Blue Devil in double figures with 10 points who joined Brown and Thomas on the all-tournament team. “Look at the scoreboard. Every night it’s a different guy going off.

“We’re all sharing the ball great, and we’re running in transition, which is something Coach has been stressing. Our firepower has been great. I haven’t seen a flaw in our offense. We’re playing with purpose, but nobody’s playing with an ego.”

Success should keep those egos in check. This was the Blue Devils’ fourth consecutive Thanksgiving Tournament championship and 37th overall. 

It gives them momentum heading into Western Big 6 Conference play.

“We gradually got better in a lot of areas throughout the course of the weekend,” said QHS coach Andy Douglas, whose team travels to Geneseo on Friday. “You’re bringing quality teams in, so you know you’re going to get pushed and you know you’re going to face adversity. We handled it well most of the weekend.”

It was Lanphier that found itself in the most adverse situation.

Three and a half minutes into the game, Lions forward Shaunessey Hatchett Jr., a 6-foot-4 junior with a powerful frame, picked up his second foul and Lanphier coach Blake Turner allowed Hatchett to play through it. So the Blue Devils went at him.

“Go right at him,” Douglas said. “To be honest, the way we want to play, it goes through Keshaun on the inside anyway. He’s going to make good plays, and he’s going to make smart plays. The guys were adamant about getting him the ball then, and he did a really good job of getting him in foul trouble.”

Hatchett, who was an all-tournament selection, scored the Lions’ first six points before picking up his third foul with 1:42 remaining in the first quarter. He went to the bench with the Lions trailing 12-6.

He returned at the start of the second half with the Lions down 35-22.

“Coach preached that (Hatchett) is always jumping, he’s trying to block everything, he’s super aggressive,” Wires said. “Getting him in foul trouble allowed us to take off in the second quarter and we went on a run.”

It left no one able to be aggressive enough to stop Thomas in the second half.

“There’s no way to stop Keshaun anyway,” Wires said.

He had four assists to go with his game-high 22 points.

“I don’t think people give him credit for his passing ability,” Douglas said. “He’s one of the best passers we have on the team, and he’s very unselfish with the ball in his hands. But then, we want to be a fast team and Keshaun leads us in getting up the floor most of the time.”

The Blue Devils never let the Lions back in the game and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

“Defensively, we held it together a majority of the time,” Wires said. “Sometimes, we had some fall-aparts, but we talked to each other and we got it together.”

And they proved they have the depth to overcome anything.

Wires’ foul trouble allowed his younger brother, sophomore guard Kamren Wires, and junior guard Isaiah Talton to play some minutes.

“It’s next man up,” Douglas said. “I know coaches say that a lot, but we have a lot of weapons and a lot of guys itching to play. We’re going to use them.”

The Blue Devils the next man up will get the job done.

“Every time,” Wires said. “When I come out, I know whoever is going in has my back. That’s the brotherhood and the family that we have between us all.”