Moline is a basketball program with great history, including a state championship as recently as 2023. The Maroons are led by one of the better coaches in the entire state, Sean Taylor, and are 24-6 on the season.
This is why Quincy’s 69-52 beat down of Moline this past weekend is alarming for the rest of the state as regional play tips off next week.
The Blue Devils, one of the top-ranked Class 4A teams in Illinois all season long, improved to 27-2. The only two losses came to out-of-state opponents.
This is a seasoned and hardened senior group led by a Division I player in Bradley Longcor. And following last year’s stunning, difficult-to-describe 44-43 loss in the sectional championship, Quincy is playing with a chip on its shoulder.
“The initial thing for our kids following that loss was shock,” Quincy coach Andy Douglas said of the heartbreaking loss to a Normal team that reached the state championship game. “It went from shock to hurt. From that point it turned to drive for this group.
“When you experience a tough loss like that, it changed us — for the better. All the things you hope your team does as a coach, they did.”
There might not be a more tradition-rich basketball program in the state.
The names of players and iconic coaches, the history and home court are all legendary in Illinois high school basketball. There are 32 state appearances and 14 state trophies, including two state championships and a mythical national championship in 1981.
It’s truly a hoops hot-bed — good and bad — where winning really matters. There are season ticket holders, there has been controversial booster involvement in the past, and it’s where they fire Hall of Fame coaches for not winning enough.
Even with all the past success, the fans in Quincy and across the state haven’t seen the famed program play in the State Finals in Peoria or Champaign in nearly 30 years.
This is supposed to be the year. But is pressure mounting?
“Man, there is pressure to win a state title here regardless if you’re a team that can win 10 games or 30 games,” Douglas said with a laugh but completely serious. “There is always pressure here.”
Douglas says there is “a lot of noise” due to the record, the rankings and the fact this group won a state championship as seventh-graders. But he also believes the expectations internally are greater than those from the outside.
“If you want to get rid of pressure, you put in the work,” Douglas said. “This group has put in a ton of work to get to where they are.”
This is a team with four seniors who have played varsity basketball since they were freshmen.
They are led by Longcor, a 6-3 guard headed to Santa Clara, and Keshaun Thomas, a force with his physicality, tenaciousness and production.
Longcor averages 17.5 points and nearly five assists and has connected on 64 three-pointers. The 6-5, 225-pound Thomas puts up 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.
Athletic shooter Dom Clay (12.3 ppg) and guard Kameron Wires (6.5 ppg) are two other four-year varsity players who have been mainstays for Douglas.
“I think the special part of this group is that they’ve been together since second grade,” Douglas said. “They put their ego aside and play for each other. It’s really been a true definition of what a team should be.”
Now is it a team that can bring home the first state trophy in 27 years or, possibly, the first state championship since 1981?