Quincy slips by Railers 43-40

[January 16, 2023]  It’s been called the craziest tradition in high school basketball and it happens before every Quincy Blue Devils home game. With the lights out and a hype video playing on a big screen, the Blue Devil mascot emerges from a cloud of smoke and runs around the court, carrying a three-pronged flaming trident while the band plays in the background. The energetic and athletic Blue Devil mascot pauses at the free throw line to pump up the packed crowd even more before the Chicago Bulls theme song (Sirius by The Alan Parsons Project) starts playing and the introductions begin. The pregame activities undoubtedly bring a level of excitement to the game and it was neat that the current Railers and their families got to experience the electric atmosphere firsthand.

With the lights back on and the players ready to compete, the fans were in for a good contest between these two historic programs, but in the end the Railers lost to the Blue Devils in the final seconds of the game by a final score of 43-40.

The Blue Devils struck first in the opening quarter with Ralph Wires hitting a deep three to start things off. Aidan Gowin hit a deep three for Lincoln to tie the game. Lincoln’s only other basket of the quarter occurred on a lob pass from Trey Schilling to Payton Cook and the first quarter would end with Quincy on top 9-5.

In the second quarter it was quickly a 12-7 ballgame after a basket by Drew Hayes. A corner three by Jake Bivin brought the Railers closer with the score 12-10. Quincy then stretched the lead to 16-10 before Tyler Sasse’s three and Bivin’s two set the halftime score at 16-15.

Bivin’s basket, on the assist from Hayes, gave the Railers their first lead of the game in the third quarter, 17-16 the score. The two teams were in a tight race until the Blue Devils pulled away with a 27-19 lead with 2:15 remaining in the quarter. By the time the third quarter ended the Blue Devils were holding on to a 30-23 lead.
 

In the fourth quarter the Railers staged a comeback with Cook, Bivin and Schilling leading the way offensively. The 13-0 run the Railers put together consisted of six points from Bivin, five points from Schilling and a basket in the middle to tie by Cook. Schilling’s five points dug the Railers out of a hole and made the score 35-33 Quincy with 4:00 remaining. Cook tied the game 35-35 with 3:30 left in the game and finally it was a huge three from Bivin to put the Railers in front 38-35 with 2:41 left to play. A free throw by Bivin allowed Lincoln to go up 39-35 with 1:44 left in the game. Wires hit a huge three with just under a minute left to break a long scoring drought by the Blue Devils. With :35 left Cook made 1-of-2 shots from the free throw line and Lincoln was clinging to a 40-38 lead. Camden Brown then tied the game with his basket in the lane for Quincy with :22 left. Brown would sink the free throw and put the Devils in front 41-40.

With the Railers getting possession of the ball, Bivin would get tied up in the lane and the result was a jump ball in favor of the Blue Devils. Lincoln was forced to foul and sent Bradley Longcor to the line with just a couple seconds remaining. Longcor made both shots to stretch the lead to 43-40. Ki’on Carson attempted a long shot at the end for Lincoln but it was too short and the Blue Devils capped off their exciting evening of Saturday night basketball with a 43-40 win.

Jake Bivin led Lincoln with 15 points. Payton Cook added 11 points for the Railers.

Ralph Wires led the Blue Devils with 15 points. Camden Brown scored 12 points and Keshaun Thomas scored 11 points for Quincy.
 

Lincoln falls to 14-4 on the season.

Quincy improves to 17-2 on the season.

In the JV game, Drew Hayes led Lincoln with 21 points as the Railers beat the Blue Devils 44-37.

The Railers will host Bloomington Tuesday night. The JV game will start at 6 p.m. The Varsity game will start at 7:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 40
Bivin 15
Cook 11
Schilling 5
Sasse 4
Gowin 3
Hayes 2

Quincy 43
R. Wires 15
Brown 12
Thomas 11
Longcor 5

JV scoring

Lincoln 44
Hayes 21
Smith 8
Komnick 8
Sanders 4
Stevens 2
Horn 1

Quincy 37
Wires 11
Whitfield 11
Louthan 7
Hibbert 4
Routh 4

[Teena Lowery]