‘We have to come with energy’: Blue Devils prep for showdown with Knights by dispatching Maple Leafs

QUINCY — The Quincy High School boys basketball team wasn’t going to disrespect the opponent, the event or the sport with a nonchalant effort.

There’s too much riding on this weekend to be anything less than focused.

So despite knowing what the outcome of Friday night’s Western Big 6 Conference matchup with Geneseo could have been and should have been, the Blue Devils didn’t take anything for granted. Bradley Longcor III made his first five 3-point attempts as part of a game-opening 31-2 run that fueled a 72-25 victory at Blue Devil Gym.

The game was part of the first night of the seventh Quincy Shootout and a showcase moment for the No. 1-ranked team in the Associated Press Class 4A state poll. The spotlight grows Saturday night when the Blue Devils (19-1) face Bishop O’Connell (15-5) of Arlington, Va.

“We can’t just go out there and have fun and joke around,” Quincy senior forward Keshaun Thomas said of Friday night’s tilt. “We had to go out there, run our offense, execute our plays and get ready for tomorrow. We have to be ready for tomorrow.”

The level of competition changes enormously.

The Knights outlasted Booker T. Washington of Tulsa, Okala., 90-85 in double overtime Friday in one of four Shootout games played at The Pit on the Quincy Notre Dame campus, giving Bishop O’Connell coach Joe Wootten his 550th career victory.

“We have to come with energy,” Longcor said. “Just be ready to play. You look at it like every other game, and every time, you have to be ready to play. So we’ll show up ready to go.”

Despite the mismatch with the Maple Leafs — Quincy won 71-34 at Geneseo on Dec. 6 — the Blue Devils maintained their focus on the fundamentals early. Quincy shot 58.6 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range in the first half while forcing 16 turnovers and committing just two in improving to 8-0 in WB6 play.

“We had to look at the small details and emphasize the small details,” said Longcor, who finished with 17 points and was named the game MVP. “Focus on things like talking on defense, getting to the right spots, running plays all the way through. We have to do those things tomorrow so we had to do them right tonight.”

Longcor made five consecutive 3-pointers to begin the game, breaking the QHS career 3-point record with his third made trey. That moved him past Jeremiah Talton, the 2022 graduate who made 229 career 3-pointers. Longcor now sits at 232.

Thomas finished with nine points and six rebounds, while Aveon Tate came off the bench to score 10 points in the second half.

“Every time you lose sight, every time you lose focus, it doesn’t bode well for the next game you’re playing,” Quincy coach Andy Douglas said. “The next game we’re playing is going to be a pretty tough one, playing against one of the tougher teams here. We wanted the guys to be crisp, and we handled our business tonight.

“Now we have to come ready to work tomorrow.”

The Blue Devils already knew that.

“Watching film, they all crash the glass,” Thomas said of Bishop O’Connell. “So we definitely have to box out and be aggressive. We’re going to have to be tough and strong and take care of things we can control.”