The Effingham Lady Hearts built a double-digit lead and then hung on to post a 50-46 victory at home Thursday night over Mattoon.
Ella Niebrugge knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored eight points, helping Effingham jump out to a 12-2 lead after the first eight minutes. The Lady Hearts expanded their advantage to 18-7 at halftime and led by 14 points, 32-18, going into the fourth period.
But the Lady Green Wave made a furious comeback. Emily Maple made three shots from behind the arc and scored 14 points, and Lily Ghere scored nine more, as Mattoon outscored EHS 28-18. The Lady Hearts went 12-for-17 from the foul line in the fourth period, which was enough to secure the victory.
Niebrugge led the Effingham scoring attack with 18 points. Saige Althoff had nine and Madison Mapes, Bria Beals and Marissa Allie all added seven.
The Lady Hearts improved to 17-7 overall and are now 4-4 in the Apollo Conference. They will return to action tonight (Friday) at Teutopolis and will then play at home Saturday against Mahomet-Seymour.
The Effingham Hearts exploded for 30 points in the first quarter and coasted to an 83-27 road victory Tuesday night over Oblong-Palestine-Hutsonville.
Garrett Wolfe scored eight points and Andrew Donaldson and Andrew Splechter both had seven, helping the Hearts open a dominating 30-3 lead after the first eight minutes.
During that opening quarter, Wolfe scored the 1,000th point of his high school career.
Effingham led 55-11 at halftime and 70-19 after three periods.
Donaldson and Splechter shared scoring honors, both finishing with 17 points. Wolfe added 11.
Effingham improved to 10-15 for the year. The Hearts will now have a few days off. They will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 2, when they travel to Mattoon for an Apollo Conference game.
The Mascoutah Lady Indians grabbed an early lead and maintained it throughout, finishing with a 50-39 victory Saturday afternoon over the Effingham Lady Hearts in the championship game of the Vandalia Mid-Winter Tournament.
Mascoutah led 15-11 after the first eight minutes, but extended it to 32-23 at halftime. It was a 12-point margin after three periods, 45-33.
Sophia Loden led Mascoutah and all scorers with 20 points. Annelise Beck added 12 points for the Lady Indians, who improved to 14-6 on the season.
Bria Beals led Effingham with 11 points, while Madison Mapes and Ella Niebrugge both had seven.
The Lady Hearts dropped to 16-7 overall. They will return to action Thursday with a home game against Mattoon.
For the second game in a row, the Effingham Hearts didn’t handle pressure well and gave up a big lead.
On Saturday afternoon, the Hearts saw a 17-point lead evaporate, but was rescued when Logan Heil hit a bucket with 11 seconds to play to give them a one-point win over Salem.
Later that same day, Effingham owned a seemingly comfortable 18-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. But, again, pressure defense resulted in numerous turnovers and allowed Champaign Central to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Maroons held the Hearts scoreless in the final eight minutes. They went on an 18-0 scoring surge to tie the game and then finished the comeback by outscoring EHS 13-9 in overtime to post a 59-55 victory in the consolation championship of the Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament.
Until the fourth quarter, Effingham had led throughout.
Garrett Wolfe scored 11 first-quarter points, helping the Hearts go on top, 16-12. Wolfe knocked down two threes and netted eight more points in the second period. Andrew Donaldson and Andrew Splechter also connected on three-point shots and both scored five points, as EHS went on a 20-6 scoring run to open a 36-18 bulge at halftime.
It was still an 18-point spread, 46-28, heading into the final eight minutes. Champaign Central knocked down three shots from behind the arc to spark the 18-0 scoring spree in the fourth quarter to send the game to the overtime period.
In the extra session, the Maroons went 9-for-12 from the free throw line and got seven points from Landon Robinson. Wolfe had four points and Donaldson had another three, but it wasn’t enough.
Chris Bush scored 28 points for Champaign Central, who improved to 7-14 on the season.
Wolfe finished with 27 for the Hearts, while Donaldson added 10.
Effingham dipped to 9-15 for the year. The Hearts will travel to Hutsonville on Tuesday night.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Whew!
What was a 17-point lead and looked like an easy win turned into anything but that Saturday afternoon for the Effingham Hearts.
Salem’s zone press forced seven fourth-quarter turnovers and the Wildcats responded by converting several of those into points at the offensive end. They actually led for all of 25 seconds.
But Logan Heil got a great assist from Gunner Brown and scored what proved to be the winning basket with just 11 seconds remaining.
Salem got off a shot before the buzzer, but it was off-target and the Hearts survived, posting a 48-47 victory.
EHS will now play for the consolation championship of the Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament later today (Saturday). The Hearts will face Champaign Central at 5 p.m.
With just two minutes left in the third quarter, it looked as if the Hearts would roll to their ninth win of the season. Andrew Donaldson’s three-pointer had capped a 9-0 run and gave EHS a seemingly comfortable 37-20 lead.
But the Wildcats then employed a 1-2-2 zone press and the game quickly turned. Conner Tennyson scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and Jairen Stroud converted a turnover into a three-pointer that got Salem to within 38-27 by the end of the period and ignited a big comeback.
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