Wolfpack’s perimeter shooting holds Blue Devils at bay in quarterfinal loss in Bloomington

December 28, 2024 | By Muddy River Sports

Quincy's Jada Brown is defended by St. Ignatius' Reganne Reardon during Friday night's game in the large school girls basketball bracket in the State Farm Holiday Classic at Normal Community High School. | David Adam photo

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — No matter what the Quincy High School girls basketball team did, Chicago St. Ignatius always had an answer.

Typically, it was in the form of a 3-pointer.

Sally Kennedy’s 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer Friday night gave the Wolfpack a four-point halftime edge, while Reganne Reardon bookended a tide-turning 10-2 run in the third quarter with treys as St. Ignatius earned a 64-54 victory in the quarterfinals of the State Farm Holiday Classic’s large school girls bracket.

The Wolfpack made 10 3-pointers overall, four coming in the second half to help maintain the lead.

“I thought we played pretty good defense in the second half,” Quincy coach Brad Dance said. “It wasn’t like we gave them wide-open shots. They made some contested shots in that second half. They’re a good shooting team.”

That kept the Blue Devils at bay time and time again.

St. Ignatius took a 27-18 lead in the second quarter on the strength of a 9-2 run, only to see the Blue Devils answer with an 8-0 spurt highlighted by 3-pointers from Madelyn Hamby and Myley Longcor. However, Kennedy’s 3-pointer at the buzzer deflated everything.

A 5-0 run early in the third quarter allowed Quincy to pull even at 34 before Reardon sparked another critical run. Reardon made four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 34 points.

“She can really shoot it,” Dance said.

Yet, the Blue Devils kept giving themselves a chance at a comeback. Trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, Quincy cut the deficit to seven on Longcor’s 3-pointer with 1:45 remaining, but couldn’t get closer.

“They keep playing,” Dance said. “That basketball instinct comes out in them, and they fight.”

Jada Brown led the Blue Devils with 17 points, while Khloe Nicholson added 13.

Quincy will wrap up the holiday tournament at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Plainfield North at the Shirk Center on Illinois Wesleyan’s campus.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The score of Friday’s game was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.)