Manual fights off QND to win sixth state title in program history

Manual's Jaquan Brown shoots a three during Saturday's Class 2A state title game. Michael Savoie/Clutch Sports Media

CHAMPAIGN — What can Brown do for you?

For Manual, its senior forward named Jaquan helped the Rams win a state title, the program’s sixth in its storied history, as Brown scored 23 points to lead the Rams to a 60-55 win over Quincy Notre Dame in Saturday’s Class 2A state title game at the State Farm Center in Champaign.

Manual’s state title is its first since 1997 when the Rams capped off an unprecedented four-peat. But this Rams team made history in their own right and will be forever immortalized with a banner hanging above Coach Van’s Court.

Manual led 42-29 after three quarters, but a three-point play from QND’s Beau Eftink capped a 10-2 run from the Raiders to cut the deficit to 44-39 with 5:48 left. 

The Raiders closed the gap to three points but a layup from Brown gave Manual a bigger cushion. Immediately after Brown’s layup, Rico Booker stole the inbounds pass and Tolliver converted a huge and-1 to push Manual’s lead to 51-43 with 3:34 left. 

QND continued to stay alive with forcing turnovers, but Manual delivered when it mattered most as the Raiders missed two threes on a key possession in the final minute and Humbles sealed the game with three free throws in the final seconds.

Saturday’s title game mirrored Manual’s semifinal win in several ways. Both teams traded the lead back and forth throughout the first quarter with Rams forward Jaquan Brown shining early. He scored nine in the first quarter — using a corner three and a trio of fastbreak layups — to help the Rams exit the first frame knotted at 15. 

The Rams also battled foul trouble early as Josh Humbles picked up two fouls in the first quarter and Reggie Postlewaite joined him with his second foul early in the second. QND threw the first big punch of the game with a 6-0 run capped by a lob layup to Jace Allensworth to go ahead 23-17 with 4:33 to go in the second. 

But the Rams held the Raiders scoreless for the rest of the first half as a jumper from Humbles, a shot from Brown, a three-point play from Tahj Tolliver on a driving floater and a Humbles layup comprised a 9-0 spurt that put Manual ahead 26-23 at halftime. 

In the first half, Manual shot 12-for-20 and owned an 18-12 advantage in points in the paint and a 6-0 advantage in fast break points. 

The Rams continued their strong run into the second half as a layup from Tolliver plus and-1s from Humbles and Brown gave them 16 unanswered points and a 33-23 lead. QND broke a 0-for-6 stretch from the field on a layup, but Brown quickly got the lead back up to 10 on a layup midway through the third.

This story will be updated