The Mt. Zion Braves used a strong second-half shooting performance, especially from long range, to pull away and post a 68-49 victory Saturday night on Senior Night at Effingham.
The Braves held a slim 26-24 lead at intermission, but then went 6-for-8 from three-point range to spark a 42-25 scoring surge in the final 16 minutes to secure the win.
Mt. Zion had four three-pointers and Ethan Hamrick added eight points to help the guests go on a 22-11 run in the third period to take control. The Braves then outscored the Hearts 20-14 in the final quarter.
The game was close in the first half. Jeff Volpi connected on a three and scored seven first-quarter points, as the Hearts built a slim 14-12 edge after the first eight minutes. Mt. Zion’s Lyncoln Koester did the exact same thing as Volpi in the second period, helping the Braves take the two-point lead at halftime.
Mt. Zion had three players in double figures – Koester 16, Jack Driscoll 13 and Hamrick 10. The Braves finished their regular season with a 21-6 record overall and 6-6 in the Apollo Conference.
Volpi led the Hearts with 17 points.
Four Seniors – Volpi, Ethan Ritz, Dalton Fox and Brayden Pals – played their final home game at Effingham High School.
The Hearts finished the regular season with a 10-20 overall record and 1-11 in the conference. They will now compete in the Olney (Richland County) Regional. Effingham, seeded No. 8, will face No. 2 Olney at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Mascoutah (No. 3) and Marion (No. 6) will play at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and the winners of the two games will play at 7 p.m. Friday for the regional championship.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
To put it simply, the Effingham Lady Hearts “couldn’t buy one.”
From right in front of the basket to behind the three-point line – and everything in-between -- their shots just wouldn’t fall.
Despite a cold shooting night, the Lady Hearts battled to the end. They were within a single possession at one point in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t convert enough on the offensive end.
As a result, the Mt. Vernon Lady Rams escaped with a 43-37 win Friday night to capture the Class 3A Effingham Regional.
‘We got great shots; the kind of shots we were looking for,” said EHS coach Jeff Schafer. “Some were from point blank range. We were possibly one possession away from winning this game. We just couldn’t make shots. I feel awful for these girls.”
So just how bad was the shooting?
At halftime, the Lady Hearts were 2-for-22 from the floor, a frigid nine percent. Yet, they only trailed 7-5 after the opening eight minutes and 16-9 at halftime.
“I told the girls at halftime that I was still very confident in them,” Schafer noted. “They had proven people wrong all year long. I knew they would do everything they could. All we needed to do was shoot the ball better. We held a very good team in the 40s. But our shooting was the difference.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The third quarter bugaboo struck again Monday night.
After playing a strong first half, the Effingham Hearts struggled again in the third period and Mt. Vernon took advantage.
The Rams scored the final 13 points of the third quarter and finished with a 19-0 run that broke open a tight game. They finished with a 56-37 win at home.
That’s after playing Mt. Vernon on even terms the first 16 minutes.
Baskets by Ethan Ritz and Logan Heil staked the Hearts to a quick 4-0 lead, but it was their only lead of the game. The Rams got three-pointers from Calan Kujawa and Colin McClure to seize the lead. Mt. Vernon was up 10-8 after the first eight minutes.
A turnover that resulted in a dunk by NJ Benson gave the Rams a five-point advantage, but Garret Wolfe knocked down a three and then hit a pair of free throws to knot the score, 16-16, midway through the second period. Mt. Vernon then went on a 7-0 run, but EHS closed the half with another three by Wolfe and a pair of free throws by Quest Hull to get within 23-21 at intermission.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
It was the type of game you would expect with a conference championship on the line.
Both teams played hard and tough.
Even though the home team led most of the way, the game was in doubt until the final couple minutes.
The Altamont Indians were looking for a share of the National Trail Conference regular season title and came in with confidence. After all, they knocked off St. Anthony in the championship game of the National Trail Conference Tournament, posting a 48-41 win just a couple weeks ago.
But the Bulldogs weren’t in a sharing mood.
They took the lead for good early in the second quarter and maintained a five-to-eight-point spread much of the game. But they could never pull away from the Indians, who battled to the very end.
The Indians were still within seven points with 1:15 to play. But Kyle Stewart made four straight free throws and Adam Rudibaugh broke loose for an uncontested layup in the final 75 seconds, as the Bulldogs took control down the stretch for a hard-earned 53-40 win on Senior Night at The Enlow Center.
That win capped a perfect 8-0 conference season and extended St. Anthony’s winning streak to 32 straight games against NTC teams during the regular season. That’s right. The Bulldogs have now put together four straight seasons without a loss during league play.
“Winning the NTC is huge to us,” St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker said. “The conference tournament is the glamour and it is a fantastic honor to win it.
“But to go undefeated in the regular season, and do so for four straight years, says a lot about our program,” Rincker added. “It speaks volumes about the guys. It shows they have the ability to perform night in and night out, whether at home or on the road. This means a lot to us.”
But it didn’t come easy.
The Effingham Lady Hearts will play for the regional championship.
They earned a berth in the title game by posting a 52-41 victory over Olney (Richland County) in an opening-round game of the Class 3A Effingham Regional. It was their second win in five days over the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Hearts used a 20-11 scoring run in the final eight minutes to turn a slim lead into a double-digit win. Madison Mapes scored seven points, including four straight free throws down the stretch, and Ella Niebrugge drilled a three-pointer and added six more to help EHS pull away.
Effingham led 9-3 after the opening period, but Olney got within 18-17 at halftime. It was still a tight game after three quarters, with the hosts holding a slim 32-30 edge.
Kenzie Weiler scored a game-high 17 points for the Lady Tigers, who ended their season at 14-16.
Niebrugge and Meredith Schaefer paced EHS with 12 and 10 points respectively. Mapes finished with nine.
The Lady Hearts improved to 21-10 overall and will now look to capture a regional plaque for the first time since 2019. They will play Mt. Vernon at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lady Rams reached the championship game by beating Charleston 63-21 in Monday night’s first game.
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