Blue Devils rally in fourth quarter to beat Railsplitters, will face Generals in semifinals

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Whew.

That was the collective reaction from the Quincy High School boys basketball team’s bench and the throng of Blue Devil backers inside Vergil Fletcher Gym on Tuesday afternoon.

The Blue Devils were held scoreless the first four minutes of the second half of the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic semifinal against Lincoln and trailed the undefeated Railsplitters by as many as 10 points in the third quarter.

But Quincy made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and outscored Lincoln 13-4 over the final eight minutes to survive and advance with a 33-30 victory at Vergil Fletcher Gym.

“There was a strong sigh of relief,” Quincy coach Andy Douglas said. “You know what you’re going to get when you play Lincoln. For us to be able to pull it out being 10 points down in the second half, that normally doesn’t take place against them.”

The Blue Devils (11-1) will face Decatur MacArthur (11-1) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first of two semifinals. The Generals advanced with a 58-29 victory over Madison in the first quarterfinal Tuesday morning.

MacArthur averages 71.1 points per game.

“You talk about two completely different styles and facing them in the same day,” Douglas said. “It’s going to be quite an adjustment for us. We’re looking forward to putting together a game plan for it. We’ve seen a lot of teams that like to transition the way they do, so we’re going to try to do to them what Lincoln does to people and that’s slow them down.”

Trailing the Railsplitters 15-13 at halftime, the Blue Devils opened the third quarter with turnovers on four consecutive possessions, fueling the Railsplitters’ 8-0 run. Bradley Longcor III ended Quincy’s drought with a 3-pointer with 3:51 remaining in the frame, and his 16-foot jumper with 20 seconds to go pulled the Blue Devils within 26-20 going to the fourth quarter.

Longcor kickstarted the fourth quarter with a runner, and Jeremiah Talton followed with a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a one-possession game. Quincy held Lincoln without a field goal the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, we had to turn it up a little bit,” Douglas said. “We almost went to a matchup zone with more man-to-man principles just trying to pressure them a little more. Fortunately for us, it worked.”

Reid O’Brien’s 3-pointer from the left corner tied the game at 28 with 4:37 remaining. After both teams missed 3-point attempts, Lincoln’s Jake Bivin drove from the high post and converted for a 30-28 edge with 2:50 to play.

Talton, who scored one point in the first three quarters and finished with seven points, made another 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:18 to go to give Quincy a 31-30 — it was the Blue Devils’ first lead of the game.

Lincoln whittled more than a minute off the clock before Tyler Sasse attempted a 3-pointer from the right corner that caromed long. The rebound went out of bounds off the Railsplitters, giving the Blue Devils possession. Lincoln fouled three times to push Quincy into the bonus, and Longcor buried two free throws with 29.9 seconds remaining to finish the comeback.

Longcor finished with a game-high 17 points.

“He lives off of those situations,” Douglas said. “He obviously wants the ball in his hands, whether that’s bringing the ball up the floor or stepping to the line.”