Talton’s milestone moment accompanies Blue Devils rounding back into form

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A milestone moment came with a highlight reel dunk and one of the most lopsided victories in the history of the Quincy High School boys basketball program.

Still, the victory and the ability to rebound from the first loss of the season mattered most.

On a night when Jeremiah Talton became the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, the Blue Devils hit the century mark for the first time in 35 years with a 100-30 Western Big 6 Conference victory over Rock Island Alleman at Don Morris Gym.

“I thought our focus was where it needed to be,” Quincy coach Andy Douglas said. “It wasn’t on our opponent as much as it was on what we needed to do defensively. We were locked in and ready to guard.”

The margin of victory was the largest since the Blue Devils beat Chatham Glenwood 104-33 in the regional opener in 1981. The largest margin of victory in program history is 90 points — a 127-37 victory over West Pike in the regional opener in 1963.

This also was the first time the Blue Devils scored 100 points in a game since a 101-52 victory over Galesburg during the 1985-86 season.

A stockpile of points wasn’t the goal. Regaining their rhythm was after squandering a 10-point lead in the second half of last Saturday’s loss at Centralia.

“It was extremely important to get back on track and focus on some things we struggled with in the second half of my Saturday’s game,” Douglas said.

That didn’t take long.

Tied at 3 after a lackluster first 90 seconds, the Blue Devils (5-1, 2-0 WB6) kickstarted a 31-0 run when Terron Cartmill fed Sam Mulherin for a layin with 6:18 to play in the first quarter. Alleman didn’t score again until 7:12 remained in the first half.

During the Blue Devils’ run, Talton turned a steal into a one-handed jam — his second dunk in the spurt — which posterized an Alleman defender. That came on the heels of hitting back-to-back 3-pointers as the lead reached 26-3 at that point. It was 32-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Talton’s layin off a Ralph Wires assist made it 34-3 in the first 30 seconds of the second quarter.

It paved the way for Douglas to use all of his bench. Eleven different players scored with the starters playing very little in the second half.

“I was just happy to see all of our guys compete and play for each other,” said Douglas, who got 17 points from Mulherin and 16 from Bradley Longcor III. “The guys that play a lot were the biggest cheerleaders for their teammates. Shows how much they care for one another.”

Talton was one of those cheerleaders. He piled up all 25 of his points in the first half and managed just one rebound in the second half before a quick exit. His output enabled him to reach 1,000 career points as he needed 21 to hit the mark. He is the first player to join grand company since Parker Bland in 2017.

“He is as deserving as anyone,” Douglas said. “The kid puts in so much work to become the best version of himself on and off the court. When it comes down to it, he just wants to win and has been a great leader for us all. I just hope, when it’s all said and done, that I have taught him as much as he has taught me over the past few years.”