By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Jeff Schafer was very grateful for the recognition, but did not want it to be a distraction.
His team was anything but distracted, especially when the second half opened.
The Effingham Lady Hearts scored the first 10 points of the third period to erase a halftime deficit and then outscored Paris 12-6 in the final 3½ minutes of the game to post a 46-39 victory Thursday at home on Alumni Night.
Special tribute was paid to Schafer, who has been at the helm of the Lady Hearts program for 25 years and is the all-time winningest coach in school history. Jim Maxedon had the record of 458 victories, but Schafer notched No. 459 during the holiday tournament and is now at 462.
Former players and former coaches were invited to attend Thursday night’s game.
“I’m so thankful for everybody that showed up,” Schafer said. “There was definitely extra spirit in here tonight. Some of the alumni drove more than an hour and a half to come. It means a lot to me.
“But we had a game to play against a really, really good basketball team,” Schafer added. “I couldn’t be happier. Our girls just fought, fought, fought.”
The Effingham Lady Hearts will be part of the 8-team field in the 2nd annual Vandalia Girls Mid-Winter Tournament.
The tournament will begin on Monday, Jan. 16, and continue on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Also in the field will be Madison, Vandalia, Salem, Greenville, Centralia, Mascoutah and Wesclin.
The Lady Hearts will open play against Madison at 10 a.m. on Monday. The winner of that game will play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday against either Vandalia or Salem, while the losers will be in action at 6 p.m. Thursday. Each team will also play a game on Saturday.
The Taylorville Lady Tornados lit it up from long range Tuesday night.
The Lady Tornados knocked down nine three-pointers, helping them pull away for a 68-33 win at home over the Effingham Lady Hearts.
Kyleigh Heimsness connected on five from behind the arc and finished with 16 points, while sophomore Addison Tarr had two threes and finished with a game-high 23 points.
Taylorville didn’t have a three in the first eight minutes, but still held a slim 9-6 lead. But Heimsness drained three from long and scored nine points and Tarr also had a three and scored eight points, as the Lady Tornados expanded their lead to 31-20 at halftime.
THS then outscored the Lady Hearts 37-13 in the second half.
Madison Mapes and Ella Niebrugge both scored 10 points for Effingham.
The Lady Hearts dipped to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in the Apollo Conference. They will return home and play Paris on Thursday. That will also be Alumni Night.
All former girls basketball players and managers, as well as former Effingham coaches, are invited to come and celebrate EHS coach Jeff Schafer becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history.
All former alumni and coaches will be admitted into the game that night for free. In addition, Schafer will be recognized for his accomplishments. The recognition will take place prior to the varsity contest.
Following the varsity game, there will be a reception for Coach Schafer in the gym lobby.
The Effingham Hearts will be part of the 8-team field at the 71st Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament.
Games will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 18 and continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each team is guaranteed three games.
In addition to Effingham, the field includes Champaign Central, Madison, Carbondale, East St. Louis, Salem, Thornton Fractional North and and Mt. Vernon.
The Hearts will open play at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19, against T.F. North. The winner of that game will play at 8 p.m. Friday, while the loser will be in action at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Caden Nichols scored 13 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, helping the Newton Eagles secure a 70-63 victory at Effingham.
The Hearts had battled back from an early deficit to tie the game, 44-44, entering the final eight minutes. But Nichols had his big scoring outburst, plus the Eagles made 13-of-19 free throws, allowing them to pull away at the end.
Newton led 15-7 after the first period and 30-24 at halftime.
Four Eagles were in double figures. Nichols led the way with 25 points, while Parker Wolf scored 18, Kye Bergbower had 11 and Dylan Gier added 10.
Effingham’s Garrett Wolfe led all scorers with 26 points. Andrew Splechter had 12 and Andrew Donaldson added 11.
The Hearts are now 6-12 for the season. They will play at home Friday against Taylorville in an Apollo Conference contest.
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