By MATT SCHUCKMAN
Herald-Whig Sports Writer
SPRINGFIELD -- This one hurt, probably more than any of the Quincy High School boys basketball players were willing to show.
And Sean Taylor figures it will for at least another day or two.
"I think they're disappointed," the Quincy coach said after the Blue Devils fell 51-42 Saturday night to Springfield, losing twice in the same weekend for the first time this season. "Good teams find a way to win these type of games, and we didn't this weekend.
"We have to have roll up our sleeves on Monday, go back to work and get better in the last couple of weeks."
Having a Western Big Six Conference title at stake when Galesburg comes to Blue Devil Gym on Friday should help Quincy refocus.
"Everyone is kind of down," senior guard Jordan Witte said. "What can we do? We have to go to practice and try to get better. We have something to work for."
And the Blue Devils (13-10) have things to work on, most notably shooting.
For the third straight game, Quincy connected on less than 35 percent of its field-goal attempts. This time, though, it was the worst it has been all season as the Blue Devils hit just 27.9 percent (12 of 43), with Witte going 0 for 10 from the field and scoring just one point.
"It's just really frustrating," Witte said.
It's worse when the defense can't pick up the slack.
Quincy trailed 25-23 at the end of the third quarter before Mitchel Rein aggressively attacked the basket on back-to-back possessions, scoring on a drive down the right side of the lane and then hitting two free throws to tie the game at 27 with 6:35 to play.
On the ensuing possession, the Blue Devils did exactly what it wanted to -- it forced the Senators (18-9) to launch a 3-pointer from the left wing. Kyle Klunick's 3-point attempt caromed long, but Springfield's Renard Celestin took the rebound away from a Quincy defender and made the putback.
It started an 8-0 run that lasted just 1:27 with Celestin, a surprise starter Saturday night, scoring twice in that stretch and finishing with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.
"He's been a role player for us, but in his last game on this floor, he really came up big," Springfield coach Matt Reed said.
Celestin's putback was the Senators' second of the fourth quarter as freshman Mark Gilchrese got inside two Quincy defenders to rebound a missed free throw and score on the first possession of the quarter.
"Two offensive rebounds killed us," Taylor said. "Our defense, which played good the entire game, now has to get out and chase. We're down and we have to foul. We can't play the way we want to play."
At that point, Springfield knew exactly what to do. The Senators kept the ball in the hands of Klunick, Gilchrese and point guard Isiah Hale -- each of whom shoots better than 70 percent from the free-throw line.
They combined to go 12 of 14 from the line in the final 2:30.
"We had the right guys at the line," Reed said. "When you go do that, it's pretty hard to come back from."
Although Alex VonderHaar gave Quincy a little life, hitting a 3-pointer with 2:18 to go that pulled the Blue Devils within 41-37, Quincy missed six of its final seven shots as Springfield outscored it in the fourth quarter 26-19.
"Our guys expect to win now," Reed said. "It doesn't matter if it's Quincy or Lincoln. They are not in awe anymore. We have a lot of respect for these teams, but we believe we can compete with them."
-- mschuckman@whig.com/221-3366
