“I thought we played really good at times,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “Olney likes to apply pressure and try to wear your down. I thought our guards – all four of them – did a good job handling that.
“I also thought we did a good job running our offense and made some good cuts without the basketball,” Schafer added. “That created some easy shots for us. I thought that was the difference in the game.”
Schaefer knocked down a pair of three-pointers and Niebrugge added another from long range, staking the Lady Hearts to an early 14-9 lead. But two buckets by sophomore Grayce Burgener got the Lady Tigers to within 14-13 at the end of the first period.
Effingham was able to expand on that over the next 16 minutes. The Lady Hearts led by seven at one point, but a three by Rylee Bloomer got Richland County within three, 25-22. The hosts then got a bucket from Coralin Ohnesorge and three points from Sawyer Althoff to take a 30-22 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
Madison Mapes grabbed an offensive rebound and scored and Marissa Allie converted an Olney turnover into another basket to open the second half and quickly build the margin to 12 points, 34-22. Mapes scored six points in the third period, helping the Lady Hearts maintain that 12-point bulge, 43-31, heading into the final period.
“I thought our defensive effort was another key to the game,” Schafer noted. “We did a really good job getting back on defense and then guarding their three-point shooters.”
The Lady Tigers, who were playing without leading scorer Anna Blank, got 14 points from Burgener and 11 from Sarah Ingram. Blank has been out with a knee injury, but will be evaluated by her doctor Monday prior to the regional game.
Schaefer led the Lady Hearts with 20 points. Niebrugge scored nine, while Althoff and Allie both added seven. EHS shot pretty well, making 20-of-43 attempts, a 47 percent clip. They were 4-for-11 from three-point range and 8-for-13 at the foul line. Both teams turned the ball over 13 times and EHS held a 23-16 rebounding edge, with Althoff pulling down a game-high six.
This now sets up the rematch Monday night. The Lady Hearts are the No. 3 seed in the Class 3A Effingham Regional. They will play No. 6 Olney (14-15) at 7:30 p.m.
“Both teams will watch the tape from tonight and both will probably tweak things a little,” Schafer noted. “I expect Blank will play Monday night and she will make a difference. She’s a good player. I hope we guard on the perimeter as well as we did tonight. It should be a good game.”
The Lady Hearts improved to 19-10 on the season. They will play their regular season finale Thursday night at Mt. Zion. They will enter that game with a 5-6 record in the Apollo Conference and a chance to notch a 20th victory for the 13th time in Coach Schafer’s career.
“That was not expected this year,” the veteran coach said. “But these girls have worked so hard. They’re coachable and they just come to play every game. I’m really proud of them.”
