Brown, Blue Devils put together can’t-miss effort in opening WB6 play by crushing Rocks

QUINCY — For nearly 28 minutes of game time, Jada Brown could not miss.

The Quincy High School sophomore forward scored the Blue Devils’ first nine points, made her first 12 shots and poured in 31 points in the Blue Devils’ 64-42 victory over Rock Island in Tuesday’s Western Big 6 Conference opener at the QHS Gym.

“She’s got such soft hands and she has great moves around the basket,” Blue Devils coach Brad Dance said of Brown. “Her footwork is really good.” 

Brown put that footwork on display when she crossed the 30-point plateau with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter. Brown caught a pass from Myley Longcor at the left block with her back to the basket, faked a move to the baseline, spun back over her right shoulder, and put the ball up and in with her left hand.

“I thought I was going to miss it,” Brown said.

Dance wasn’t surprised, though.

“She spends a lot of time in the offseason with her dad. I wish I could take the credit for that, but no, they spend a lot of time working on that,” Dance said. “He spends time with her working on her footwork, her drop step.”

The only time the Blue Devils trailed was at 3-2 after the Rocks’ Amayah Jackson made a 3-pointer 1:15 into the game. Brown’s three-point play 16 seconds later off a bounce pass along the baseline from Madelyn Hamby kickstarted a 13-0 Blue Devils run. The Rocks never got within nine points of Quincy the rest of the game, and Brown did not miss her first field goal attempt until 4:33 left in the fourth quarter.

“I was very pleased with the way the girls were so unselfish,” Dance said. “We talked about playing inside out, and they definitely did that tonight. It was awesome to see her have that success, but it was a lot of girls setting her up with some great passes.”

The Blue Devils assisted on 18 of their 24 made field goals. Their crisp, quick ball movement led to those assists and created quality chances for Brown and others.

“We have to do that to be successful because we know teams are going to double team Jada, but we’ve got enough stuff to where we can still work and find the open person, then we can still get Jada on a cross screen or back screen or something like that,” Dance said. “If the ball just sticks with one person, you’re not effective. It pretty much doesn’t matter what level you are.”

Brown finished 14-for-15 from the field and 3-for-3 from the foul line and also reeled in eight rebounds. The Blue Devils capitalized on 19 Rock Island turnovers by getting out in transition, and on multiple occasions, Brown’s teammates found her running straight down the middle of the court for open layups on the fastbreak.

“Everybody’s focused on Khloe (Nicholson) handling the ball down the court and they don’t see Jada coming down the middle,” Longcor said. “Her always doing that is really helpful for us.”

The Blue Devils’ pressure defense and stinginess inside limited the Rocks to just 13 made field goals, five of which were 3-pointers.

“We worked on our defense a lot in practice, and I feel like we did really well on that tonight, like closing down the middle,” Brown said.

Longcor’s minutes were limited by three first-half fouls, but she still finished with 12 points and made a pair of triples.

“I had some trouble defensively with the fouls, but my teammates were there to back me up which allowed me to get open shots,” Longcor said.

Nicholson, the Blue Devils’ 6-foot-1 freshman point guard, did not score, but she made her impact in several other facets of the game. She dished out seven assists, grabbed three rebounds, blocked three shots, and had four steals.

“I talked to her at the end of the third quarter. I said, ‘You’re our point guard. I want the ball in your hands. Things are going to happen, but I want the ball in your hands,’” Dance said. “I don’t want her running down to the corner and we’re struggling to get the ball across. She’s going to make mistakes. I told her all along, I don’t expect her to be perfect. I just want her to work hard and continue to listen, and she’s done a great job with that.”

The Blue Devils (2-1, 1-0 WB6) will host Belleville Althoff on Friday before resuming conference play Dec. 5 against Geneseo.

Brown said Tuesday’s conference-opening win gives the young Blue Devils, who only have one senior, a boost of confidence.

“It feels like an accomplishment since we’re all so young and feeling our way,” Brown said.