‘We knew it was our moment’: Seniors help Raiders take 20-2 lead, roll to victory over Liberty

QUINCY — Alex Dance and his four Quincy Notre Dame senior teammates don’t get many chances to play together at the same time on the basketball court.

Naturally, they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity on Senior Night.

“We knew this was one of our last chances to start together,” Dance said. “We just wanted to set the tone.”

The five seniors made their presence felt from the tip, helping QND jump out to a 20-2 lead after the first quarter as it cruised to a 71-29 victory over Liberty during Friday’s West Central Conference tussle at The Pit.

“For them to be able to come in and just give me everything that they’ve got and put it out there for their teammates and play together, I thought they just did a fantastic job,” QND coach Greg Altmix said of his veteran fivesome.

Four of the seniors – Dance, Conner Young, Jackson Pyatt, and Carter Miller – combined for 11 points in the first eight minutes. The fifth senior, John Damm, added all five of his points in the third quarter.

“We knew it was our moment,” Young said. “We wanted to come out here and show everybody what it means to be a senior and how it feels playing for this team.”

Once some of the regular starters took the floor midway through the first quarter, the Raiders (15-9) had an advantage that had already swelled to double digits.

“With them having senior night and that not being (Altmix’s) normal lineup, we wanted to kind of expose it,” Liberty coach Dan Sparrow said. “But we couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”

The Eagles (15-12) made just one of seven field goal attempts in the initial frame and had 10 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Raiders were 8 of 17 from the floor and had seven different players score in the first quarter.

“Our defensive pressure, (Liberty) could not handle,” Miller said. “So that caused us to get a bunch of turnovers and fast-break layups.”

QND’s relentless pressure continued in the second quarter, leading to a 39-8 lead at halftime. By the end of the second quarter, the Raiders had forced 15 turnovers, and the offense followed suit with 16 field goals made out of 29 attempts.

Coupled with Tuesday’s victory 80-39 at Unity, QND has now won back-to-back conference games by a combined 83 points.

“Regardless of the score, we want to go out and play as hard and as well as we possibly can,” Altmix said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more. These last two games, they’ve come out with energy, with excitement, (and) with fire.”

Following three quarters, QND’s advantage had become increasingly insurmountable, and a 40-point lead (61-21) invoked a running clock for the last eight minutes.

The Raiders were led by junior Jace Allensworth, who had a game-high 17 points, while junior forward Jackson Connoyer chipped in 11. Pyatt finished with eight points, and junior forward Robbie Reed wound up with a team-best eight rebounds.

Liberty had one player in double figures as senior forward Jack Sparrow had 10 points. Sophomore guard Vince Cramsey added nine, and sophomore guard Reed Sparrow had seven.

The week was challenging for the Eagles, including Monday’s 64-35 loss to area juggernaut West Hancock. Liberty has lost three straight games, leaving Dan Sparrow scratching his head and hopeful his team can rebound with only one week left before the postseason.

“We knew that our schedule was going to get tougher this week, and we were anxious to see how our kids were going to respond,” Dan Sparrow said. “That should prepare you for the postseason, for what’s to come.”

Altmix coached for the first time against a Liberty program he led for 10 seasons, had 146 victories, and won a pair of state tournament trophies. He had mixed emotions about competing with his former players and believes better days are ahead for the Eagles.

“It’s tough because I really want both teams to play well,” he said. “They’ve got good players and a great coach. I know they’re going to bounce back. I think they’re going to surprise some people in the postseason.”