COLLINSVILLE – It was sophomore guard Ralph Wires’ only basket of the game. It turned out to be the biggest one of the season for Quincy.
Wires’ driving lay-up at the buzzer gave the Blue Devils an unbelievable 34-32 win over Collinsville in the IHSA boys basketball Class 4A sectional semifinal game Tuesday night at Vergil Fletcher Gym in a match-up between two of the most storied teams in IHSA basketball history.
The game itself was a titanic defensive game where points were hard to come by and Wires hit the shot at the end to send the Blue Devils into the Sweet Sixteen. Earlier, Jake Wilkinson had a great look in the lane in the final minute, but his shot hit the rim and bounced out, giving Quincy a chance to win.
“We had a great look when we were tied,” said Collinsville head coach Darin Lee. “It just didn’t go down. They were scrambling, they took away what they wanted to do on the last play; they wanted to go to their best player. We took him away and they were able to sling one in at the buzzer.”
It was Quincy’s third buzzer-beating shot of the game, having previously scored at the end of both the first and second quarters, giving the Blue Devils seven points, and it made a difference in the game.
“That really hurt us,” Lee said. “They put in a prayer shot, the second one was long too. The end of the quarters really dictated the game for us, those seven points when they had 34. So that was seven of 27 at the end of the first, second and fourth quarter and that ultimately decided the game.”
The Kahoks hit six three-pointers in the game to go along with five two-pointers and four free throws. Lee credited the Quincy defense for their efforts.
“They have big guys down there and it’s a good defense; it’s always tough,” Lee said. “We just don’t have a lot of size around the bucket. We knew we were going to have to make shots. We had a good run out, we missed a couple of lay-ups, we got one blocked. We missed a few lay-ups too. We got Jake (Wilkinson) a really good shot in the final seconds, it just didn’t go down.”
Quincy head coach Andy Douglas was very happy with his team for coming through in a very tough game in a raucous atmosphere.
“Feeling great,” Douglas said. “Anytime you can pull out a win in postseason play, it’s a great feeling. For our guys to battle through four quarters of hard-nosed basketball, to pull out a win in the fashion that we did, just really proud of them and obviously proud of Ralph.”
The game-winner wasn’t what the Blue Devils had planned, but they’ll gladly take the outcome.
“It wasn’t what we drew up,” Douglas said with a laugh. “We thought they were going to be in man and we wanted to get Jeremiah (Talton) running off a screen to clear some opening for Keshaun (Thomas) inside. And we knew that we wanted to get a ball screen at some point if things went awry. It wasn’t the most beautiful play ever, but Ralph made the right play. He knew the time to score, got to the basket and finished in thrilling fashion.”
It was Wires’ only points of the game and he certainly picked a good time to do it.
“He’s been huge for us all year, ” Douglas said. “If anybody’s going to make that drive and finish that play with confidence, I’d put Ralph up there with anybody.”
The game turned into a hard-fought affair between two schools that are historically among the most prominent programs in the state, and it didn’t disappoint.
“You got a little bit of everything, even though it was only a 32-34 game,” Douglas said. “It was a knock-down, drag-out type of game and we knew it would be. You’re playing a good Collinsville team at their home court. We knew it was going to be physical and it didn’t let up from the tip to the end of the game.”
In other words, just another night in the Southwestern Conference for the Kahoks, along with another night in the Western Big Six Conference for the Blue Devils, whose league includes Galesburg, Moline, East Moline United, Rock Island, Rock Island Alleman Catholic, Geneseo and Sterling.
“That’s exactly it,” Douglas said. “Our schedule sets us up for games like this, as does Collinsville’s. Just two really good teams battling it out and we came out on top.”
The Kahoks took an early 3-2 lead behind a Deante Franklin three on the baseline, with Quincy sinking a three and Thomas scoring inside to give the Blue Devils an 8-5 advantage. Franklin hit another three to tie the game 8-8 and Wilkinson hit a three late to give Collinsville an 11-10 lead. Thomas hit an off-balance jumper from outside before the buzzer to give the Blue Devils a 12-11 lead after the first quarter.
A driving lay-in by Devin Davis and a Franklin three gave Collinsville a 16-12 lead to start the second quarter, with the Blue Devils getting a basket from Sam Mulherin to pull Quincy to within 16-14. From there on, the defenses ruled as shots from both sides failed to click. A Tray Swygeart free throw gave the Kahoks a 17-14 lead, but Bradley Longcor sank a three at the buzzer to tie the game 17-17 at halftime.
Reid O’Brien immediately hit another three to give the Blue Devils a 20-17 lead to start the second half, but a Davis free throw and a Franklin three gave the Kahoks the lead right back at 21-20. Quincy came right back to take a 25-21 lead, with Collinsville stepping up to the challenge with a Franklin three and a Davis basket giving the Kahoks a 26-25 lead. Thomas came right back with a basket to give Quincy a 27-26 lead after three quarters.
The final quarter saw the lead change hand or the game tied several times as Collinsville went ahead 32-30 before Longcor tied the game at 32-32 with 3:17 left. The Kahoks held the ball and called three time-outs during the span to set their play up, and Wilkinson had a great look in the lane but missed with 1:01 to go. The Blue Devils got the ball back and called time out with 21.8 seconds left to set up their final play. The Kahoks defense kept the ball out of the inside very well, with Wires getting the ball and driving the lane to put in the game-winning lay-up as the clock ran out, sending the Blue Devils and their supporters wild with delight as Quincy won and advanced.
Franklin led the Kahoks with 14 points, while Davis had nine points and Wilkinson, Swygeart and Nick Horras each scored three points. Longcor led Quincy with nine points, while both O’Brien and Thomas each had eight points, Talton hit for five points and both Wires and Mulherin had two points apiece.
The Kahoks’ season ends at 26-6, while the Blue Devils move to the sectional final Friday night against Normal Community, who defeated Moline 61-44 in the other semifinal at Pekin High School. Douglas is expecting a big challenge ahead from the Ironmen, who go in at 33-1.
“We’ve got a couple of days to put get a game plan going,” Douglas said, “and it’s going to be a tough match-up. A team that’s only lost one game for a reason, they’re a really good ballclub, but we’re playing really solid ourselves.”
