By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Thornton Fractional North’s offensive strength is its ability to get to the lane and drive to the basket.
The Meteors were poised and ready to attack Effingham’s man-to-man defense – the defense the Hearts virtually always play.
Instead, they were greeted with a “Saturday Surprise.”
TFN was caught completely off-guard and unprepared when EHS came out in a 2-3 zone that was packed in tight.
The Meteors never did solve it and shot poorly the entire game.
That defense, plus a career-high performance by Garrett Wolfe, helped the Hearts roll to a 65-38 victory Saturday afternoon over Thornton Fractional North and earn a berth in the consolation championship of the 70th annual Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament.
“I talked to a couple coaches that played them, plus we watched some film on them,” EHS coach Obie Farmer explained. “They are really good at getting to the basket, but struggle from the outside. So, we packed it in.
“It they hit 9 or 10 three-pointers, they were going to win,” Farmer added. “But we were going to take away their biggest asset, which is getting to the basket. It worked. We packed it in so tight there was nowhere for them to go.”
It was obvious from the very beginning the Meteors had no idea how to attack that zone. They went 0-for-6 from three-point range and made just one of their first eight shots overall and the Hearts took advantage. Wolfe started his 30-point night with a short jumper and a three, helping EHS build an 11-5 edge after the opening eight minutes.
That gap continued to widen in the second period. Logan Heil, who got his first start in place of Brayden Pals, who fractured a thumb in Wednesday night’s game against Madison, scored six points, Wolfe added six more and Quest Hull came off the bench to hit four free throws.
When the teams headed to the locker room, the Hearts owned a 29-16 advantage.
Ask Obie Farmer and he’ll tell you that his basketball team has had difficulty playing with the lead this season.
Add Thursday night’s game to the list of examples.
The Effingham Hearts led by double digits in both the first and second quarters. But as missed shots and turnovers started to pile up, the lead began to dwindle.
The Madison Trojans used a 13-0 run that started in the second quarter and a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and post a 52-44 victory over the Hearts in an opening-round game of the 70th annual Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament.
Garrett Wolfe knocked down a pair of three-pointers to stake EHS to its first lead at 6-3. Jett Volpi then scored on back-to-back possessions to kick off a 10-0 scoring spree. Brayden Pals added a free throw, followed by baskets by Wolfe and Ethan Ritz to give the Hearts their first double-digit advantage, 16-6, late in the opening period.
Madison got within five, 16-11, but Wolfe and Volpi connected on threes to give Effingham an 11-point bulge, 22-11, midway through the second period.
At that point, the Trojans switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense and the game changed. The Hearts turned the ball over eight times in the final four minutes and failed to hit another shot. By intermission, Madison was within 22-20.
The Trojans got the first two buckets of the second half to complete the 13-0 run. Wolfe hit a three to put the Hearts back on top, 25-24, but Madison got a bucket and three-pointer from Derrion Enlow and a three-point play from Eric Hurst.
Over the eight-minute stretch that began in the middle of the second period, Madison outscored EHS 21-3 and led 32-25 midway through the third quarter.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
In virtually every basketball game, there is a scoring run at some points that generally determines the winner.
That was the case Tuesday in Dieterich and that spurt started just four minutes into the game.
The Movin’ Maroons held a slim 6-4 lead. But that was followed by a 15-0 scoring run that put the Effingham Hearts up by double digits.
And the lead was never less than 10 points again.
The Hearts built a sizeable halftime cushion and then rolled to a 60-43 win on the road.
Dalton Fox started the decisive run with a short jumper. Garrett Wolfe then knocked down a three, Jett Volpi made a pair of foul shots and Ethan Ritz and Brayden Pals scored on back-to-back possessions. Wolfe and Ritz then hit two more shots to put the Hearts up 19-6.
Dieterich’s Bryce Budde made his team’s third three-pointer of the quarter, but Fox hit from long range at the buzzer that not only gave EHS a 22-9 lead, but started an 11-0 run that carried over the first three minutes of the second period.
Wolfe and Volpi both connected from behind the arc and Ritz added another jumper to extend the margin to 21 points, 30-9, at the five-minute mark. By halftime, the Hearts owned a comfortable 37-13 advantage.
By Steve Raymond
ER Sports Report
Defense travels.
And Jeff Schafer is glad.
The Effingham Lady Hearts struggled mightily at the offensive end Wednesday night, but their defense was stellar. They fell behind early, but managed to hit enough shots to pull out a 38-24 win over Greenville in their third game of the Vandalia Mid-Winter Girls Basketball Tournament.
“Thankfully, our defense played a full 32 minutes,” Schafer said. “When you hold a team to 24 points, that’s really good. It gave us a chance to win. But I doubt we’ll win another game this year if we play like that again offensively.”
The first quarter was brutal for the Lady Hearts at the offensive end. They missed all six of their three-point attempts and made just 1-of-14 shots overall – that being a short jumper by Marissa Allie nearly 2½ minutes into the game that actually gave EHS a 2-0 lead.
By the end of the first eight minutes, Effingham trailed the Lady Comets 9-3.
“Normally, I’m proud of our girls for being smart basketball players,” Schafer noted. “But tonight, they didn’t play like that. We were going to the wrong spots on offense and we weren’t taking care of the ball. It was clear that we weren’t ready to play. There was no energy whatsoever.”
Fortunately, the Lady Comets were not flourishing on offense either. They missed all four of their shots in the second period and turned the ball over seven times. That resulted in being blanked for the entire quarter. The Lady Hearts still only made 3-of-10 shots, but it was enough to claim an 11-9 edge at intermission.
“It seemed like they were on 9 for a long time,” Shafer said. “Greenville plays hard, but we finally made a few shots and got some separation.”
But not until the third quarter.
The Effingham Lady Hearts had a good first day at the Vandalia Mid-Winter Girls Basketball Tournament.
The Lady Hearts posted a pair of victories Monday, beating Centralia 52-32 and following that with a 61-38 win over Vandalia.
Effingham will return to action Wednesday in the round robin tourney. They will play Greenville at 6 p.m.
The Lady Hearts outscored Centralia 29-11 in the middle two quarters to pull away. EHS held a slim 11-9 lead after the opening quarter. Meredith Schaefer then connected on a pair of three-pointers and scored eight points in the second quarter, helping Effingham take a 29-18 lead at halftime.
It was Sawyer Althoff’s turn in the third period. The senior guard scored eight points, as the Lady Hearts built a 40-20 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Sawyer finished with 15 points and Schaefer added 14 for EHS to lead the scoring attack.
Effingham followed a similar pattern against Vandalia. The Lady Hearts outscored the Lady Vandals 37-20 in the middle two quarters to build a 50-28 advantage.
Althoff had 10 points during that 16-minute stretch and Madison Mapes scored nine in the third period to spark the 25-12 scoring spree.
Althoff led the Lady Hearts with 10 points, while Mapes, Ella Niebrugge, Schaefer and Sidney Donaldson all scored nine.
The Lady Hearts improved to 14-6 on the season.
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