A pair of third-quarter three-pointers by Ella Niebrugge proved to be the spark Effingham needed.
The Lady Hearts used those shots to ignite what turned into a 21-5 second half run that propelled EHS to a 39-23 victory Monday night over Newton in an opening-round game of the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament, played in Newton.
The first half was tight throughout. The score was tied 10-10 after the first eight minutes and 18-18 at intermission.
Niebrugge’s threes helped the Lady Hearts go ahead 29-21 at the end of the third period. She then knocked down another from behind the arc, as Effingham outscored Newton 10-2 in the final quarter to pull away for the 16-point decision.
Niebrugge finished with a team-high 10 points, with all 10 coming in the second half. Madison Mapes scored nine and Bria Beals added eight.
The Lady Hearts improved to 2-0. They will return to tournament action on Wednesday when they face Flora at 6 p.m. Effingham will then wrap up tournament play Friday with a 1:30 p.m. matchup with Altamont.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For Jeff Schafer, his 25th year as head coach of the Effingham Lady Hearts could be a very special one.
He enters the season with 449 career victories, which is just nine shy of Jim Maxedon’s school record 458. When the Lady Hearts notch their 10th win of the season, Schafer will become the all-time winningest coach in EHS history.
But when talking about the year ahead, the veteran coach was more interested in talking about his team rather than personal accomplishments.
Schafer describes his 2022-23 squad as one “with a lot of upside” and “untapped potential.”
The Lady Hearts kicked off the season with a 53-43 victory over Dieterich and will look for victory No. 2 tonight (Monday) when they face Newton at 7:30 p.m. in an opening-round game of the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament in Newton.
“There is definitely a lot of upside with this year’s team,” Schafer said. “We had some young kids that got their feet wet as freshmen. By the end of the year, they were key parts of our success. It’s going to be interesting to see who takes that big leap forward this year.”
Last year’s team was a big of surprise. Effingham finished with 21-11 overall record and was 6-6 in the Apollo Conference.
“Nobody expected last year’s team to have the success it did,” the veteran coach noted. “This year’s team is very similar, so we won’t be flying under the radar this time.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Effingham Hearts don’t have much size or varsity experience, but head coach Obie Farmer likes his team.
“They have a real competitive spirit,” Farmer noted. “They seem to find a way to win. That’s what they showed this summer and I liked what I saw.”
The Hearts will put that competitive spirit on display Tuesday night when they open the season at the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.
Only one starter returns from a squad that finished 10-22 last year. There are three other players back that saw limited playing time.
“This is a very coachable group that understands the game,” said Farmer, who begins his fifth season at EHS and sports a 62-42 overall record. “We can draw up a plan during a timeout and they can go out and execute it. Not every team can do that.
“We’re going to have to play quick because of our lack of size,” Farmer added. “We’re pretty athletic and we’ll have the ability to play more in transition this year. We’ve put a system in place to put us in position to score at all three levels, regardless of our size.”
The tallest player on the varsity roster is listed at 6’4” and the tallest starter will be just 6’3”.
“There’s definitely a lack of size and we’re not very long,” Farmer said. “But we make up for some of that with our quickness and ability to anticipate. We do the right things. We’re just not very big.”
The Effingham Lady Hearts used a big second quarter to gain a lead they never relinquished, en route to a 53-43 season-opening victory Friday night at Dieterich.
The Lady Maroons held a slim 12-10 lead after the first eight minutes, but the Lady Hearts then went on a 21-10 scoring spree in the second period to take a 31-22 advantage to the locker room at intermission. Bria Beals knocked down a three-pointer and scored seven points, and Averie Wolfe and Sidney Donaldson both added four in that second period.
EHS maintained the lead throughout the second half. The Lady Hearts led 41-30 after three periods and then went 10-for-16 at the free throw line in the final quarter to finish with the 10-point decision. Overall, Effingham was 24-for-37 from the foul line.
Beals led three Lady Hearts in double figures, finishing with a game-high 17 points. Madison Mapes scored 11 and Donaldson added 10. Kady Tegeler and Cortney Brummer both scored 12 for Dieterich.
The EHS girls will now play in the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament in Newton. The Lady Hearts will play Newton tonight (Monday) at 7:30 p.m. Effingham will then face Flora at 6 p.m. Wednesday and complete tournament play against Altamont at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Olney Tigers are a perfect 27-0.
Two of those wins came against Effingham, and in both contests, that unblemished record was challenged.
That was certainly the case Wednesday night.
The Hearts built an early lead and played the Tigers tough to the end before dropping a 55-47 decision in a semifinal game of the Class 3A Olney (Richland County) Regional.
With 4:47 to play in the game, the Hearts had just received back-to-back baskets by Ethan Ritz and Armando Estrada to cut a seven-point deficit to just three, 41-38. And they had two opportunities to get even closer, but had a missed shot and a turnover, and never got closer the rest of the way.
The Tigers got baskets from Zechariah Wease and Ian Winkler to regain the seven-point spread, but Jett Volpi drilled a three to make it 45-41. A bucket by Brayden Pals kept it a four-point margin, 47-43, at the 1:12 mark, but the Tigers then made 8-of-10 free throws in the final 72 seconds to stayed unbeaten and advance to the regional championship game.
“The boys played really hard,” said EHS coach Obie Farmer. “We had a game plan and we executed it very well. We just didn’t hit the shots we had hoped we would. We found open look after open look, but we just couldn’t get them to fall.”
Early on, the shots were falling. Volip broke loose for a layup and then made a three, as the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Ritz and Garrett Wolfe both scored four points in the opening quarter, as EHS built a 17-11 edge after the opening eight minutes.
The Hearts then got baskets from Pals and Wolfe to take their largest of the game, 21-13, midway through the second period. But the Tigers closed the first half on a 9-0 run, capped by a bucket by Winkler in the closing seconds, to take a 22-21 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
Page 38 of 74
