Muddy River Showcase Spotlight: Quincy Notre Dame’s Lia Quintero

Quincy Notre Dame's Lia Quintero was a three-sport standout who won two state championships and four state medals during her high school career. | Matt Schuckman photo

The Muddy River Showcase featuring 40 of the area’s top senior basketball players from Illinois and Missouri takes place June 17 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game begins at 4 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 6 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door. QUINCY — The bookends…

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Quintero records hat trick in second game back from injury, Raiders whitewash another opponent

Quincy Notre Dame senior forward Lia Quintero, with her trademark gearshift hairstyle, has scored five goals in two games upon her return from a knee injury. | Matt Schuckman photo

RIVERTON, Ill. — Welcome back, Gearshift. Lia Quintero, the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team’s senior forward who has said her gameday hairstyle resembles a gearshift, is showing no signs of being slowed by the knee injury she suffered in the final minutes of last season’s Class 1A state semifinal victory. After scoring twice in…

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Title defense no easy task, but QND girls soccer team’s experience makes defending crown possible

Senior sweeper Eva Dickerman, left, and the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team will try to defend their Class 1A state championship this spring. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Watching the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team fall short of its goal of defending its Class 2A state championship made the QND girls soccer players realize a very important fact. Repeating isn’t easy. So as the Raiders embark on their own title defense — the reigning Class 1A state champions who went…

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Remaining resolute: QND girls soccer team’s determination leads to spot in state title game

The Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer players celebrate Sophie Gramke's goal in the first half of Friday's Class 1A state semifinal against Normal U-High at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, Ill. Photo courtesy Randy Dickerman

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The resolve of the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team continues to be put to the test. The biggest challenge awaits. The Raiders will play for a state championship without their leading scorer and all-state candidate. “We try to come in with a good mindset and try to control the emotions,” sophomore…

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Return engagement: QND girls soccer team upends defending state champ to return to final four in Naperville

Quincy Notre Dame's Lauryn Peters begins to celebrate as Lia Quintero's header bounces into the goal past the arms of Belleville Althoff keeper Anna Brewer with seven minutes remaining in the second overtime of Tuesday's Class 1A Columbia Super-Sectional in Columbia, Ill. Matt Schuckman photo

COLUMBIA, Ill. — The Illinois girls state soccer championships are returning to North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville this weekend for the first time in three years. It’s only fitting Quincy Notre Dame returns, too. As QND coach Mark Longo put it, it is the Raiders’ “home away from home.” Figuring out how to…

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SuperFan Shootout: Quintero, Cornwell step into spotlight to help QND girls hold off Central-Southeastern

Quincy Notre Dame's Eryn Cornwell dribbles to the basket while Central-Southeastern's Amanda Stephens defends during Friday night's girls basketball game at the Pit in Quincy. | David Adam

QUINCY — The Central-Southeastern girls basketball team was in a good spot in the third quarter of Friday night’s game at the Pit. The Panthers scored the first six points of the second half and trailed Quincy Notre Dame, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2A, 33-26 with 5:08 left in the quarter. Even better,…

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Raiders’ Quintero finishes among top 16 singles players in Class 1A state field

Quincy Notre Dame junior Lia Quintero won three matches at the Class 1A state girls tennis tournament. Submitted photo

PALATINE, Ill. — Lia Quintero proved she belonged. And it’s a safe bet she’ll be back. The Quincy Notre Dame junior won another match Friday at the Class 1A girls state tennis tournament at Fremd High School, pushing her into the fifth round of the consolation bracket and into the top 16 singles players in…

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Poise carries QND’s Quintero to two victories at state tennis tournament

Quincy Notre Dame junior Lia Quintero went 2-1 on the first day of the Class 1A girls state tennis tournament in Arlington Heights, Ill. Submitted photo

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — Lia Quintero needed composure and conviction as much as she did her powerful forehand to survive the first day of the Class 1A girls state tennis tournament. The Quincy Notre Dame junior showcased it all. Opening the singles draw against ninth-seeded Jocelyn Carmody of Troy Triad, Quintero scored an upset in…

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Raiders’ Quintero reboots mission with another state tennis tournament berth

Quincy Notre Dame's Lia Quintero serves in match against Hannibal earlier this season. The junior is making another appearance at the Class 1A state tournament beginning Thursday in the Chicagoland area. Photo courtesy Mathew Kirby

QUINCY — Lia Quintero’s mission is to leave her mark, and she’s OK if it comes with an asterisk. The Quincy Notre Dame junior set a goal coming into high school to be a four-time qualifier for the girls state tennis tournament, an effort that seemed doable after going 2-2 at the Class 1A state…

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