Basketball

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

It was a preview of next week’s regional matchup.

And Round 1 went to the Effingham Lady Hearts.

Effingham handled defensive pressure well, was disciplined on offense and used the middle two quarters to build a double-digit lead.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Hearts had a 52-45 win at home Wednesday over the Richland County (Olney) Lady Tigers, the same team they will face five days from now in an opening-round game of the regional.

The Lady Tigers are a quick, pesky team that plays full-court, pressure man-to-man defense from the opening tap. For the most part, EHS handled that pressure in an efficient way. But four turnovers in the final eight minutes made it interesting down the stretch.

After Meredith Schaefer and Ella Niebrugge both scored, the Lady Hearts held a seemingly comfortable 47-33 cushion just two minutes into the fourth quarter. But a couple turnovers helped Olney go on a 9-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Reese Smith that got the guests within 47-42 at the 2:58 mark.

Schaefer then turned in a three-point play, followed by a pair of free throws to build the lead back to double-digits, 52-42, with only 1:07 left to secure the 19^th win of the season.

The Effingham Hearts had no answer for Jaksen Braun, especially in the fourth quarter.

Charleston’s 6’5” senior scored 12 of his game-high 23 points in the final eight minutes, helping the host Trojans pull away and post a 57-46 Apollo Conference victory Tuesday night.

After Ethan Ritz drained a three-pointer, the Hearts were within 44-37 with six minutes left in the game. But Braun then scored on three straight trips down the floor to expand the margin to 50-37, the largest of the game.

Another three by Ritz, plus two baskets by Garrett Wolfe, got Effingham to within 52-46 at the 1:26 mark, but the Trojans made five free throws in the final 60 seconds to secure the victory.

“Braun is a good player. He’s long and athletic,” Effingham coach Obie Farmer said. “But a couple times on our press rotations, we lost him under the basket and he got some easy ones.

“These kids always battle hard,” Farmer added. “But playing hard doesn’t put points on the board. We missed several defensive assignments tonight and people got loose for some easy baskets.”

Monday night’s game at home against Mattoon will go in the “one that got away” category.

The Effingham Hearts held a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t make it stand up.

The Green Wave responded with an 11-0 run and then got what proved to be the game-winning basket from Blaine Powers with 24 seconds to play to complete their comeback and post a 41-39 win.

“We had a couple ill-advised shots and got rushed a little in that fourth quarter,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We just didn’t finish the game. Tonight’s game proves that every possession counts.”

After Garrett Wolfe hit a three-pointer early in the final period, the Hearts owned a 36-26 advantage. But that’s when Mattoon began it’s comeback. Gage Thompson hit two three-pointers – his only points of the game -- to spark the scoring spree. His second three knotted the game at 36-36.

A free throw by Cooper Bergstrom put the Green Wave on top, but Wolfe responded with a three-point play that put Effingham back ahead, 39-37, with 2:40 to play. Christian Larson then hit a pair of foul shots 90 seconds later to tie the game again.

The Effingham Lady Hearts used a strong second half to pull away and post a 45-33 victory at home Monday night over Lincoln.

The Lady Railsplitters sophomore standout Kloe Froebe was out with an injury and the Lady Hearts took advantage.

EHS held a slim 20-19 edge at halftime, but then outscored their guests 25-14 in the final 16 minutes to notch their 18^th win of the season.

Ella Niebrugge knocked down a three and scored five points and Madison Mapes added four more, sparking Effingham to a 13-7 run in the third period that expanded the lead to 33-26 heading into the fourth quarter.

Marissa Allie came up big, scoring seven points, including a three-point play, as the Lady Hearts closed out the game on a 12-7 surge to seal the win.

Meredith Schaefer connected on five threes in the game and led the Lady Hearts with 15 points. Niebrugge finished with nine and Allie added eight.

The Lady Hearts improved to 18-10 on the season and 5-6 in the Apollo Conference. They have two more games this week to close out their regular season – Wednesday at home against Olney; and Thursday at Mt. Zion.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

In most basketball games, there is a spurt or two that generally determines the outcome.

Effingham was in one of those games Saturday afternoon.

Mahomet-Seymour used the final 76 seconds of the first half and a four-minute stretch in the final quarter to their benefit, outscoring the Hearts 25-2.

The Bulldogs needed that to overcome a strong third-quarter burst by Effingham.

In the end, however, that fourth-quarter surge helped Mahomet-Seymour come away with a 54-41 Apollo Conference road victory.

“These kids are going to play hard all the time,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We just didn’t make enough plays or hit enough shots at the end to pull this one out.”

The fact it was a close game two minutes into the fourth period is a testament to the Hearts – especially after the first half.

They shot miserably, making only 3-of-20 shots and scoring just nine points.

“I felt like we had our opportunities in that first half,” Farmer noted. “We had good shots. They weren’t rushed or ill-advised. We just didn’t make them.”

Yet, after Garrett Wolfe made a three-pointer at the 1:16 mark of the second quarter, the home team was surprisingly only down three points, 12-9.

But over the final 76 seconds, the Bulldogs got a three from Dayten Eisenmann and then converted two quick turnovers into baskets by Carter Selk and Luke Koller to take a double-digit cushion, 19-9, into the locker room at intermission.