The Effingham Lady Hearts will take a 10-game winning streak into the postseason.
They notched their 10th straight win Saturday with a low-scoring 38-29 Apollo Conference decision at Mt. Zion.
The Lady Hearts did shoot well, connecting on just 11-of-32 attempts overall, a 34 percent clip. But they made enough shots to secure the win and head into the postseason with a lot of momentum.
Effingham started strong. Averie Wolfe connected on a three-pointer and scored seven points, helping the Lady Hearts build a 13-5 lead after the opening eight minutes. The margin stayed about the same the rest of the game. EHS led 23-15 at halftime and 29-22 after three quarters.
Wolfe finished with a game-high 13 points.
The Lady Hearts improved to 26-4 overall and finished conference play with a 7-3 mark, good enough for a second place finish.
Now its postseason time. The Lady Hearts are the No. 2 seed in the Salem Regional and will open play at 6 p.m. Monday against either Salem or Troy Triad.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
With a big conference game and regular season finale the next night, Jeff Schafer didn’t know what to expect.
Wednesday night’s matchup with Olney could have easily been one of those “gotcha” situations.
But the Effingham Lady Hearts didn’t let that happen.
They built a double-digit lead early and then cruised to a 55-23 win at home.
“The girls were razor-focused from the beginning,” Schafer said. “They came out ready to play. They made a great defensive stand on the very first possession and that set the tone. Our defense was really, really good tonight.”
The Lady Tigers like to shoot three-pointers. The EHS defense limited them to just 11 attempts from behind the arc and only two went in.
“To hold that team to just two threes is something,” Schafer noted. “Coming into the game, I thought if we held them to five or fewer, that would be really good. I thought we did a great job defending that.”
Olney didn’t get off a single shot from three-point range in the first quarter, and by the time those first eight minutes ended, the host Lady Hearts were in control.
Sidney Donaldson hit three shots to provide an offensive spark for EHS. Averie Wolfe knocked down a three and Saige Althoff scored four points. The Lady Hearts used an 11-2 run to close out the period and build a 15-4 advantage.
The Effingham Lady Hearts are in hopes of adding their first regional championship since winning three straight in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
A year ago, the Lady Hearts reached the championship game of the Class 3A Mattoon Regional, but were defeated by the Lady Green Wave in a close game.
This year, EHS will enter as the No. 2 seed in the Salem Regional and play its opening game on Monday, Feb. 12. The Lady Hearts will face either Salem or Troy Triad at 6 p.m.
The regional championship is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15.
The winner will advance to the Effingham Sectional. Regional winners from Charleston, Carbondale and Waterloo will also advance to the Effingham Sectional, which will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
Here is the complete schedule for the Salem Regional.
Saturday, Feb. 10
Game 1 –1 p.m. – No. 7 Salem at No. 6 Troy Triad
Monday, Feb. 12
Game 2 – 6 p.m. – No. 2 Effingham vs. Winner Game 1
Game 3 – 7:30 p.m. – No. 3 Bethalto Civic Memorial vs. No. 5 Centralia
Friday, Feb. 17
Game 4 – 7 p.m. – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 (championship)
The Charleston Trojans used a run to close out the first half to take the lead and then turned in a dominant third quarter to pull away and post a 67-41 win at home Tuesday night over Effingham.
The Hearts fell behind 12-1 in the early going, but responded by going on a 15-0 scoring surge. Ethan Jones scored six points and KJ Kellams added four, helping Effingham go on top, 16-12.
But the Trojans went on a 17-5 surge to take a 29-21 lead to the locker room at intermission. The hosts then outscored EHS 19-6 in the third quarter to increase the margin to 48-27.
Nolan Fearday led Effingham with 10 points.
The Hearts dipped to 3-25 overall and 1-8 in the Apollo Conference. They will return to action Saturday in the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes Shootout. Effingham will play Alton at 3:30 p.m.
For 16 minutes, the Effingham Hearts played right with Mahomet-Seymour.
But it was a different story in the second half.
The visiting Bulldogs knocked down six three-pointers in the third quarter to take control of the game. They outscored the Hearts 36-12 in that period, en route to a 79-46 victory.
Rylan Pals connected on a pair of shots from behind the arc and the Hearts made 8-of-10 free throws in the first eight minutes and were tied 16-16. KJ Kellams hit another three and Ethan Jones scored five points in the second quarter, and EHS trailed by just three, 29-26, at intermission.
But Mahomet-Seymour caught on fire in the third period. Jackson Bohn hit a three and scored 11 points and teammate Miles Woosley hit a pair of shots from long range and added 10 points, helping the Bulldogs go on the 36-12 run and build a 65-38 lead heading into the final quarter.
Bohn finished with 20 points and Woosley scored 14. Kellams and Hayden Wendling led Effingham with nine points each.
The Hearts dipped to 3-24 overall and 1-7 in the Apollo Conference. They will play Tuesday at Charleston.
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