By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Mt. Vernon has a lot of weapons and they showcased them all Saturday night.
Whether it was Navontae Nesbit driving to the rim, Colin McClure burying shots from the corner or RJ King using his strength and size inside, the Rams proved to be a difficult team to contain at the offensive end.
The Effingham Hearts put up a gallant effort, but in the end, that trio combined to score 58 points and help Mt. Vernon post a 71-60 win at Effingham.
“Our kids played really hard,” EHS coach Obie Farmer noted. “It was frustrating we couldn’t stop them. We did everything we could, but we just had no answer for some of their weapons.”
One thing the Hearts tried was switching from their man-to-man defense to a zone midway through the third quarter. At the time, EHS trailed 39-30.
The move paid instant dividends.
The Rams made just one of their final six shots in the quarter and the Hearts came storming back. Andrew Donaldson knocked down a jumper to start a 7-0 run. Ethan Jones added a free throw and Andrew Splecther converted four more from the foul stripe to get EHS within 39-37 with just 44 seconds left in the period.
“They were scoring a lot by just going to the basket,” Farmer explained. “So, we went to a 2-3 zone and it did what we wanted it to do. We forced them to shoot from the outside. It gave us more defenders inside to help cut off their drive and it helped us rebound better.”
After Effingham’s seasoning-open loss to Breese Central, there were some legitimate concerns.
But since then, the Hearts have proven to be a surprise time and again.
Such was the case again Friday night.
The first half was brutal. Effingham was down 11 points.
But the Hearts then turned in a terrific second half, outscored Mahomet-Seymour 37-17 and came away with a 50-44 win at home over a team that many considered to be a front-runner this year in the Apollo Conference.
“At halftime, I thought we might get beat by 25 points,” EHS coach Obie Farmer admitted. “We couldn’t hit a shot. We had a hard time getting in the gaps and were too passive. It was clear. We needed more toughness.”
His message at halftime was received.
“We stepped up and tightened up our defense,” Farmer said. “Then we started attacking more at the offensive end. That was the difference.”
The Effingham Lady Hearts got another big win Thursday night and Jeff Schafer moved a step closer to a coaching milestone.
In what Schafer described as a “battle royale,” the Lady Hearts posted a hard-fought 45-40 Apollo Conference victory at Mattoon.
“We played really hard and just gutted it out,” Schafer said about his team’s performance.
The Lady Hearts trailed by three points, 20-17, at intermission. They came out and scored the first four points of the second half to take the lead and it remained a two to five-point spread the rest of the contest.
Ella Niebrugge had seven points in the third quarter and EHS held a slim two-point edge, 34-32, heading into the final eight minutes. Saige Althoff knocked down a three and scored five points, and Madison Mapes, Averie Wolfe and Marissa Allie all had a pair, helping Effingham secure the win down the stretch.
“Everyone contributed,” Schafer said. “We had six different players score at least two times in the second half. Our help defense, led by Marissa Allie, was probably the difference in the game. This was just a real hard-fought win for us. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort.”
Niebrugge finished with 14 points to pace the Lady Hearts. Allie scored eight and Mapes, Althoff and Bria Beals each had seven. Beals led the team with eight rebounds and Mapes dished out five assists.
For Schafer, it was win No. 456 in his coaching career. He is now just two victories away from tying Jim Maxedon for the most wins ever by an Effingham coach.
The Lady Hearts improved to 7-1 on the season and are now 2-0 in league play. They will be right back in action tonight (Friday) with another conference game at Mahomet-Seymour.
Things appeared to be off to a decent start.
The Effingham Lady Hearts played a solid first quarter and held a slim two-point lead on the road Friday night.
But after scoring 12 points in the opening eight minutes, they managed just 14 more over the next 24 minutes.
“We played good enough defense to win, but we couldn’t make a shot after the first quarter,” said EHS coach Jeff Schafer.
The end result was a 46-26 setback at Mahomet-Seymour in an Apollo Conference contest.
Ella Niebrugge scored six points and Saige Althoff added four more as the Lady Hearts owned a 12-10 lead after the first period. But Effingham scored just 2, 5 and 7 points in the next three quarters.
The Lady Bulldogs took advantage, building leads of 21-14 at halftime and 32-19 after three periods.
Niebrugge was the only Effingham player to reach double figures with 11 points.
The Lady Hearts dipped to 7-2 on the season and are now 2-1 in league play. They will return to action Tuesday night with a home game against Charleston.
The Effingham Hearts used a big second quarter Tuesday night to open a double-digit lead and then rolled to a 63-48 victory at home over Mattoon.
Effingham led 10-5 after the first eight minutes and then went on a 17-6 scoring spree. Garrett Wolfe knocked down a three and scored five points and Ethan Jones, Andrew Splechter and Logan Heil each score four, helping the Hearts take a 27-11 lead at halftime.
“Mattoon struggled getting shots and getting to the basket in that second quarter,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “Plus, we showed real good balance on offense. We moved the ball well and when things opened up, our guys capitalized on their opportunities. We also scored points off turnovers tonight.”
Things started to “open up” after Heil scored all 10 of Effingham’s points in the opening period.
“We fed Logan early,” Farmer noted. “When they started to collapse on him, he passed the ball out for open shot after open shot. We also did a good job of crashing the boards.”
The Green Wave closed to within 40-29 after three quarters and got as close as 10 early in the final period. But Andrew Donaldson and Wolfe connected on back-to-back three-pointers to expand the lead to 16. The Hearts led by as many as 20.
Heil and Wolfe both scored 15 points to lead EHS, while Splechter added 14.
“I told the kids before the game that energy and effort would win us this game,” Farmer said. “They bought into that. Our goal is to out-work everybody we play. If we do that, things will work out.”
Effingham, now 3-4 overall and 2-0 in the Apollo Conference, will play two more homes games this week – Friday against Mahomet-Seymour in another conference contest; and Saturday against Mt. Vernon.
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