Poor stretches cost Batavia

QUINCY -- The Quincy High School pom-pom squad turned off the lights at halftime Saturday night and performed its annual Christmas light show.

In the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils put on a show of their own from the charity stripe -- shooting lights out as they made 11 of 13 attempts in their 57-47 victory over Batavia at Blue Devil Gym.

The victory is Quincy's sixth straight after falling in its season opener. Blue Devils senior Wade Roberts led the way at the free-throw line, making 6 of 7 attempts.

Quincy sends its four non-shooters to the opposite end of the court -- whether it's the first or fourth quarter -- during free-throw attempts.

"It definitely gives you better incentive that you better make it, otherwise you're not getting it back," Roberts said. "We're pretty confident in the way we shoot the ball, so if we think we can knock it down, then we don't need that guy up there."

In addition to Roberts, Zach Forbes made a pair of free throws and Jordan Witte made 3 of 4 attempts to seal the victory.

"These guys like playing in games like this," Quincy coach Sean Taylor said. "They have a lot of guts."

Quincy ended the first half with a 26-23 lead and the Blue Devils built up a 32-26 lead to begin the second half. Then the Bulldogs caught fire, while the Blue Devils turned ice cold.

The Bulldogs ended the third quarter with eight straight points, momentum and a two-point lead.

The Blue Devils responded to Batavia's 8-0 run by scoring 14 of the first 16 points in the final quarter. Witte, who had a game-high 17 points, made a 3-pointer seven seconds into the final quarter, giving the Blue Devils the lead for good.

The loss is Batavia's second in three games playing without 6-foot-6 senior Nick Fruendt, who is out with mononucleosis.

This makes perimeter threats David Bryant and Phil Albrecht even more valuable to the Bulldogs (8-2). Bryant (9 points) made both of his 3-pointers in the second quarter, while Albrecht (14 points) heated up in the third quarter.

Albrecht made his first three treys of the second half. Two of the 3-pointers came during Batavia's 8-0 run.

"I thought we did a good job penetrating, kicking," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "When we did that, we had some good looks."

Batavia shot 50 percent from beyond the arc. But turnovers and cold fourth quarter shooting did the Bulldogs in during the final quarter.

"We had some stretches where we turned the ball over," Roberts said. "So that really cost us at different times."

Batavia turned the ball over four times and began the final quarter hitting 2 of 10 from the field.

Quincy made 6 of 9 field goals in the final quarter -- a combination of good shot selection and execution.