QUINCY — Quincy finished the 2022-23 season with a 17-8 mark, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 1A Boys State Basketball tournament after losing by two points to Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) in the 1A District 6/7 Crossover.

The Jackrabbits return all five of their starters from a year ago and 10 players with varsity experience. 

“It helps a ton,” Quincy coach Scott Bierlink said. “I’ve been coaching here at Quincy for 18 years, been the head coach for four, and we’ve never had a team with this much talent returning. We have 10 guys that have played some varsity, all five starters, three first-team all-leaguers, three 20-point games scorers.”

Among the returners are first-team all-league talents in sophomore Pierce Bierlink and Julian Ibarra, as well as the 2022-23 Caribou Trail League MVP Aidan Bews. Senior Ethan Gregg, who received an honorable mention last winter, also returns.

That veteran experience brings along leadership, which Bierlink said was a strength of this year’s team.

“We’ve got a couple seniors coming back — Aidan Bews, Julian Ibarra — they’re first-team all-leaguers, Bews was the MVP of the league last year,” Bierlink said. “Just the leadership, and they’ve got dreams to have a big season. They can tell the detail, holding kids accountable. They’ve done a really good job of that so far.”

Five of Quincy’s eight losses last season were by six points or less; Bierlink said a focus has been cleaning up the minute details that led to those losses.

“I think we can really take from some of those games and see, ‘Oh, it’s a few turnovers there, a missed free throw there, a couple defensive mistakes,’” Bierlink said. 

The Jackrabbits have won two straight CTL regular season titles, though it’ll be a challenge to come out on top of a talented league again.

“I just think our guys have to stay humble, continue to work hard and not take anything for granted to be able to win a third league title,” Bierlink said. 

Despite the regular season success, Quincy lost 71-52 in the CTL district championship game to Omak last February, responding with a win over Chelan to advance to its crossover game against Lakeside. Quincy missed out on a state tournament berth with its loss to the Eagles.

Bierlink compared last year’s finish to the Davenport boys basketball team, who just won the 2B state championship last winter. The Gorillas were junior-heavy in 2021-22 and lost in the district tournament, then returned most of its roster and went 27-2 last season en route to a state title.

“(Davenport coach Matt Henry) said ‘Our guys were certainly disappointed, and I think that was just part of the process that we had to go through to mature to get to the point that we’re at now,’” Bierlink said. “That’s what I’m kind of hoping; last year stung, we lost by two with a chance to go to state. I certainly felt like we were a good enough team to be there, but that loss stung and all these guys are coming back.”

Quincy opens the 2023-24 season on the road against Wahluke on Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

“We know what we need to clean up from last year, we struggled with turnovers and struggled with some rebounding issues,” Bierlink said. “We’re working off what we struggled with last year, what our strengths are and how we can improve that.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Quincy Boys Basketball Schedule

Dec. 1 — @ Wahluke — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 — @ Zillah — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 5 — vs. Chelan — 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 9 — vs. Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) — 5 p.m.

Dec. 12 — vs. Cashmere — 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 14 — vs. Ephrata — 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 16 — vs. Brewster — 5 p.m.

Dec. 19 — @ Cascade (Leavenworth) — 7:15 p.m.

Dec. 21 — @ Omak — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 2 — @ Chelan — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 5 — vs. Omak — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 10 — @ Cashmere — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 13 — @ Royal — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16 — vs. Cascade (Leavenworth) — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 18 — vs. Chelan — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 23 — @ Omak — 7:15 p.m.

Jan. 25 — vs. Cashmere — 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 1 — @ Cascade (Leavenworth) — 7:15 p.m.

    Quincy senior Aidan Bews (4) is a returning first-team all-leaguer, as well as the reigning 2022-23 Caribou Trail League MVP.
  

    Quincy senior Julian Ibarra, right, looks to shake off an Omak defender during a game in the 2022-23 regular season.
  

    Quincy senior Ethan Gregg, in white, gets past a Chelan defender for a basket.