Garrett Wolfe poured in 32 points Saturday afternoon, helping the Effingham Hearts notch their first win of the season, a 75-59 decision over Mattoon.
It earned Effingham a seventh place finish in the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.
Andrew Splechter scored nine points, and Logan Heil and Wolfe both added six, as the Hearts built a 21-12 lead after the opening eight minutes. Andrew Donaldson knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter and Heil added six more points, and EHS took a 37-27 advantage at halftime.
Wolfe connected on three shots from behind the arc in the third period and the Hearts went on a 19-11 surge to increase the margin to 56-38. Wolfe then netted 13 more points in the final quarter, helping EHS maintain a comfortable lead to the end.
Splechter finished with 17 points and Heil added 14 in the win.
Effingham, now 1-3, will play two games this week – Thursday at Taylorville in the Apollo Conference opener; and Saturday at the Marion Shootout. They will play Mascoutah at 3:30 p.m.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Everybody in the gym figured Grace Nelson would take the shot.
The Effingham Lady Hearts were bound and determined not to let that happen.
The Lady Hearts defense was successful in stopping Nelson, but that left someone else open.
That someone was Claire Boehm and the junior guard knocked down a 12-foot jumper with just 17 seconds to play, which proved to be the game-winner.
The Lady Hearts got off a last-second shot, but it was off the mark, clinching the 53-51 victory for the Altamont Lady Indians in the championship game of the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament in Newton.
“On that last possession, we went to a box-and-1,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer explained. “We wanted to make sure that someone other that Nelson made the shot. We didn’t rotate defensively like we needed to,but hats off to her (Boehm). She made it.”
No wonder Schafer wanted to keep the ball out of Nelson’s hands at the end. Altamont’s standout junior – just one game after setting the school’s all-time scoring record – chalked up 36 points against EHS.
“She is good; real good,” Schafer said. “We wanted to force her to take tough shots, but she made a lot of them.”
The Effingham Lady Hearts jumped out to an early lead and rolled to a 48-18 victory over Flora Wednesday night at the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament in Newton.
Bria Beals knocked down a three-pointer and scored eight points in the opening period, helping the Lady Hearts build an 18-4 lead. It was 33-7 at halftime and 45-14 after three quarters.
Beals finished with a game-high 12 points. Madison Mapes scored nine, Sage Althoff eight and Ella Niebrugge seven.
The Lady Hearts are now 2-0 in the tourney and 3-0 overall. They will face Altamont at 1:30 p.m. Friday in their final game at the tournament.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
It took just one game for Obie Farmer to realize changes needed to be made.
Effingham’s season-opening performance – a 58-32 loss to Breese Central -- was, quite honestly, brutal.
Game 2 resulted in another setback, but the Hearts played with more energy and a lot more pace, and scored twice as many points.
Robinson used an impressive 6½-minute spurt in the second half to pull away for an 81-66 victory Wednesday night at the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.
But coaches, players and fans had to come away much more encouraged and optimistic about the season ahead.
“It was back to the drawing board after that first game,” Farmer admitted. “Part of being a coach is finding what works best for the kids. We didn’t feel comfortable with how we played Tuesday night. We tried to slow it down and I should have known better.
“After that first game, I was at a bit of a loss,” Farmer added. “It helped a lot to meet with the coaching staff and the team. We talked things out. The kids need to have input, too. As a coach, sometimes we have to adjust. I think the changes we made worked. I feel we’re moving in the right direction now.”
Effingham’s up-tempo approach against Robinson was in direct contrast to the game just 24 hours earlier. The Hearts came out in much more of an attack mode at both ends of the floor.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Effingham basketball coach Obie Farmer summed up his team’s season-opening game accurately.
“This was a tough way to start.”
The Hearts had trouble at both ends of the floor – scoring, defending, rebounding and taking care of the ball.
The result was a 58-32 setback to Breese Central Tuesday night in an opening-round game for both teams in the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Hearts got a three-pointer from Andrew Donaldson to start the game and a long banked-in three from Garrett Wolfe just ahead of the first quarter buzzer. In between, they missed five shots, turned the ball over six times and fell behind 12-6.
Unfortunately, the second quarter wasn’t much better. Wolfe hit a jumper and added three free throws and Logan Heil added a bucket from short range. But that was it.
Meanwhile, Ty Kueper knocked down two shots from behind the arc and scored 10 points, helping the Cougars increase their advantage to 30-13 by halftime.
“It’s obvious we’ve got a lot of growing up to do,” Farmer said. “We made some decisions and did other things that showed our inexperience at the varsity level. The kids played hard, but they just didn’t put themselves in the right positions.
“Plus, when you start to play catch-up, it changes your game,” Farmer added. “Then you start taking risks and doing things you’re not prepared to do trying to get caught back up.”
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