Streaks over Q

From the Quincy Whig....

By JOSH RIZZO
Herald-Whig Sports Writer

The Quincy High School girls basketball team's momentum went crashing to the floor along with Galesburg's Dani Teel.
A 3-pointer by Arai'ya Dade capped a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter and cut the Silver Streaks' lead to five points with 4 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in Thursday night's Western Big Six Conference showdown.
A couple of possessions later, the Blue Devils' Jordan Fletcher was tied up battling for a rebound and was whistled for a foul. As the players untangled, Fletcher knocked Teel to the floor, leading to a technical foul on the Quincy center as Teel stayed on the floor while being attended to by trainers.
Teel left shortly thereafter with an injury, while Quincy's momentum was completely gone.

Allison Mangieri made 3 of 4 resulting free throws and Sabrina Clay added a layup on the ensuing possession to help the Silver Streaks pull away for a 51-38 victory at the QHS gym.
"For one, we lost a starter on that play because it was two fouls," Quincy coach Demond Dade said. "Also, because of the gravity of the situation, with the young lady being hurt, anytime something like that happens it puts a damper on it for everybody. It was hard to refocus after that."
Quincy (10-10, 1-6 WB6) shot 3 of 15 from the field in the fourth quarter and 13 of 43 for the game.
The Blue Devils also struggled to hold onto the ball. Galesburg (16-7, 5-2) forced 41 turnovers, including 24 in the first half. After Measha Ferguson-Smith tied the game at 8 when she opened the second quarter with a layup, the Silver Streaks used an 11-2 run to surge ahead 19-8 with four minutes left before halftime.
Jessica Lieber, who finished with a game-high 16 points, buried two 3-pointers during that stretch.
Galesburg led 24-12 at the half.
"We were playing at a feverish pace, 100 miles an hour and we didn't need to," Dade said. "We needed to slow down and do what we wanted. They weren't even really pressuring us and we let them pressure us into a fast-paced game that wasn't in our gameplan."
Arai'ya Dade, scored five of her team-high nine points in the fourth quarter, said the Blue Devils didn't make good decisions on offense.
"We weren't playing smart," Arai'ya Dade said. "We weren't playing together. I think everyone did their own individual things and were trying to do everything by themself."
Galesburg's Sharron Diggins and Rainee Sibley both caused Quincy headaches by getting steals and turning them into quick offense. Diggins finished with nine points and six rebounds.
"Sharron Diggins," Galesburg coach Evan Massey said when asked why the Silver Streaks' defense was so effective. "The combination of, and we didn't do it for very long, but when we went full-court pressure with Diggins and Rainee Sibley up front, they ended up creating not only a boatload of turnovers, but easy baskets for us."
Ferguson-Smith finished with a team-high eight rebounds for Quincy, Fletcher had five points, six rebounds and three blocks.