Effingham girls basketball coach Jeff Schafer summed up Friday night’s game in Lincoln pretty simply.
“They played good and we didn’t.”
And it doesn’t hurt to have a standout player like Kloe Froebe.
The Lincoln sophomore pumped in 33 points, including 21 in the second half, helping the Lady Railsplitters pull away for a 57-29 victory at home over the Lady Hearts.
Effingham was in it for the first eight minutes. Froebe scored just three points and the Lady Hearts were within 13-9. But Lincoln went on a 19-2 scoring spree in the second period to build a 32-11 halftime lead and were never threatened.
Froebe knocked down three shots from behind the arc in the third quarter and the hosts maintained their 21-point cushion, 46-25.
Ella Niebrugge paced EHS with 11 points, while Meredith Schaefer added eight.
The Lady Hearts dipped to 9-3 overall and 2-3 in the Apollo Conference. Their next game will be in the Charleston Holiday Tournament. Effingham will play at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 27, against Danville. The Lady Hearts will play four games in three days in the five-team round robin format.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Just 4½ minutes into the second half, three Effingham starters were saddled with three fouls and another had four.
On top of that, the team was not shooting well and trailed 23-21 to the host St. Anthony team.
No problem.
EHS coach Jeff Schafer put a freshman on the court and she went to work.
Twenty-nine seconds later, young Saige Althoff buried a three-pointer from the corner. It was just the first of her 13 points over the final 11 minutes of the game, sparking the Lady Hearts to a 49-34 victory over the Lady Bulldogs at The Enlow Center.
“They brought in that freshman and we had trouble guarding her,” St. Anthony coach Aaron Rios admitted. “She was the difference in the game.”
“Saige came in and made some huge shots for us,” Schafer added. “When she hit that three, I think our bench gave the loudest cheer. Saige is very athletic and can do a lot of things. Tonight, she just came in and played well. She was certainly the difference.”
Up to that point in the third period, the Lady Bulldogs had only trailed twice in the game for a total of 54 seconds.
St. Anthony actually tried to take control at the beginning. The Lady Hearts missed their first three shots, their first two free throws and turned the ball over three times. The Lady Bulldogs responded with two baskets from Lucy Fearday, three points from Abbi Hatton and a free throw by Grace Karolewicz to take an 8-0 lead four minutes into the game.
The Effingham Lady Hearts returned to the win column in a big way Tuesday night.
After dropping their past two games, the Lady Hearts raced to a big early lead and never looked back, rolling to a 58-10 victory at Charleston.
Six different girls scored in the first eight minutes, as EHS built a 22-5 advantage. By intermission, Effingham was in total control, 35-8.
The Lady Hearts then outscored the Lady Trojans 16-0 in the third period, en route to the lopsided, 48-point decision.
A total of 13 girls played for Effingham. Sawyer Althoff and Saige Althoff led the scoring attack with 10 points each. Madison Mapes scored nine, while Ella Niebrugge and Marissa Allie both chipped in with seven.
Effingham improved to 8-2 overall and 2-2 in the Apollo Conference. The Lady Hearts will return to action Thursday, traveling across town to play St. Anthony. EHS will then play again Friday at Lincoln.
Jackson Braun proved to be tough to handle.
Charleston’s 6’6” senior pumped in 20 points and controlled the inside, helping the Trojans stay unbeaten in the Apollo Conference by posting a 55-45 victory Tuesday night at Effingham.
The Hearts led at every stop through three quarters – 13-12 after the initial eight minutes; 24-22 at intermission; and 38-37 entering the fourth period.
But Braun scored six points and teammate William Applegate went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in that final quarter, as the Trojans outscored the Hearts, 18-7, to pull away and secure the victory. Charleston is now 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the Apollo.
“Braun killed us, especially on the boards. I think he had eight offensive rebounds alone,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “He is long and athletic and was about 95 percent of our problem tonight. We had a hard time with him last year, too. He’s a very good player. I think he’s better than (Sam) Bradbury from Mattoon.”
Jett Volpi knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored 10 points in the first half, as the Hearts managed to maintain a slim lead. Dalton Fox had his best shooting performance of the season. He connected on three shots from behind the arc, including two in the first half.
Volpi scored seven more points in the third period and EHS took the one-point margin into the final eight minutes.
“For most of the game, we played within ourselves,” Farmer said. “I thought we played pretty good defense overall, didn’t turn the ball over much and were a little better on the offensive end. We’ll keep making adjustments and tweaking a few things. I feel like we’re really close to turning the corner.”
Volpi finished with 17 points and Fox added 10.
The Hearts dipped to 2-7 on the season and are now 0-3 in the Apollo Conference. They will be at home again next Tuesday, hosting Taylorville in another conference game.
The Effingham Hearts faced a couple tough opponents the past two nights.
On Friday night, EHS traveled to Mahomet-Seymour and dropped a 46-35 decision in an Apollo Conference game.
Then on Saturday, the Hearts competed in the Nokomis Shootout and faced an undefeated Centralia squad. Effingham played strong, but were handed a 42-29 setback.
Scoring continues to be a struggle.
Quenton Rogers knocked down a three and scored nine points, helping the host Bulldogs build a 19-11 lead after the opening period. The Bulldogs then outscored EHS 20-11 over the next two quarters to build the margin to 39-22 after three periods.
“We’re just not looking to score,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We’re running our sets well, but we need to improvise a little to put ourselves in position to score. We need to improve on that.”
Andrew Splechter led the Hearts with 12 points. Rogers finished with 11 for Mahomet-Seymour.
Effingham was right back at it Saturday and gave the Orphans everything they could handle. The Hearts were within four points in the fourth period before Centralia was able to pull away and secure its seventh win of the season.
The Orphans grabbed a 12-5 lead after the initial eight minutes, but Effingham was within 21-16 at intermission. Centralia led 33-22 after three quarters.
“They have an excellent offense they run against a man-to-man defense and they run it very well,” Farmer noted. “So we decided to play zone against them and we caused them some problems.
“We had nothing to lose tonight,” Farmer added. “Our kids played real hard against a team that I’m sure will be ranked in the top 10. They’re very talented. They’ve got shooters, a 6’7” kid inside and they rebound well.”
Ethan Ritz came off the bench to lead the Hearts with eight points, while Garrett Wolfe scored seven and Armando Estrada added six.
“Ethan had an awesome game,” Farmer said. “He came in and played hard. He hit a couple shots and rebounded well. I told him after the game I was proud of him.”
Koby Wilmoth and Davin Tabor led the Orphans with 14 and 13 points respectively.
The Hearts dipped to 2-5 on the season and are now 0-2 in the Apollo Conference. They are scheduled to play three home games this week – Tuesday against Teutopolis; Thursday against Charleston; and Saturday against Lincoln.
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