UT beats Quincy

From Argus....

By Blake Toppmeyer, Special to sports

QUINCY -- Mikayla Fallon and her teammates on the United Township girls' basketball team received a clear message from coach Justin Schlitz before Thursday's Western Big 6 Conference game at Quincy. "Coach did a good job of getting us pumped up before the game. He got us thinking that if we lose again, we're kind of out of (the conference race)," said Fallon, a UT senior guard. "So we were just really pumped up at the beginning and got to work." That was evident. UT overwhelmed the Blue Devils for three quarters and claimed a 50-35 win at Blue Devil Gym. The win keeps the Lady Panthers (14-6, 3-3) two games behind Rock Island for first place in the Big 6. Every league team except Quincy, which saw its Big 6 losing streak extend to 23, still is alive in the conference race. "The league is as balanced as it's ever been," Schlitz said. "We're right where we need to be. Obviously we don't want to have three (conference) losses, but we're still in the thick of it. We're still alive." UT trailed 6-5 with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, but held Quincy (8-8, 0-6) scoreless for the next 9:42, during which time the Panthers built a 20-6 lead. The Panthers started the game playing man-to-man defense, but switched early in the first quarter to a zone. From that point on, Quincy couldn't get into an offensive rhythm until the fourth quarter, when it outscored UT 20-7. The Blue Devils shot 7 of 39 (17.9 percent) from the field in the first three quarters. "Our zone was really effective because we were really active and had our hands up, and we talked a lot, and we haven't been doing that the past two games," said Fallon, who had 10 points and six rebounds. Kiana Brady scored all 10 of UT's points in the second quarter and finished with a game-high 14 points. Brady, who entered Thursday averaging 4.6 points per game, scored eight points off fastbreak layups. "I think she feels more comfortable in the open court because she's athletic, and she feels comfortable finishing close around the basket," Schlitz said. "At times when we play half-court offense, she doesn't always get that opportunity because most teams in our league know she's a drive-first player. So in the open court in a game like this where we get some outlet passes to her, that's where she's in a little bit more of her comfort zone, and she made some good plays tonight." Brady also had assists to Abby VanDeventer, who finished with 11 points, on a pair of 3-pointers and a layup during the third quarter, when the Panthers outscored Quincy 20-4. The Blue Devils went on an 11-3 run in the final five minutes to prevent a lopsided final score, but they never trimmed the deficit to fewer than 14 points in the fourth quarter. "I thought we were a little tentative there in the fourth quarter with the ball," Shiltz said, "but we did enough in the first three to win comfortably,"