The season record against Taylorville will show 0-2.
But Obie Famer and the Effingham Hearts will tell you they should have won both games.
After falling 53-46 in double overtime just 23 days ago, the Hearts had a good chance to gain some revenge Thursday night.
But they turned the ball over twice in the final 10 seconds and Bryce Friedrich hit a layup with eight seconds to play, giving the Tornadoes a 36-34 victory at home.
“We had the ball with 30 seconds left,” Farmer said. “We wanted to get the last shot, but we turned it over.”
After a timeout, Taylorville set up a play that produced the winning basket.
“They had a kid on the block that ran to the ball, then threw on the brakes and ran back to the basket,” Farmer explained. “They threw it over our heads for a layup. We had the ball and went the length of the court pretty well, but then we turned the ball over again.”
As was the case in the first game, it was close throughout. The Hearts knocked down four three-pointers in the first quarter and built a 16-7 lead. But Taylorville got back to within 20-18 at halftime and the score was tied 26-26 heading into the final eight minutes.
Friedrich led all scorers with 12 points, while Brayden Pals cracked double figures for the Hearts with 10.
The Hearts are now 6-12 overall and 1-5 in the Apollo Conference. They will return to action Tuesday with a game at Dieterich.
Katelyn Middleton scored 12 first-quarter points, helping the Paris Lady Tigers build an early lead – a lead they maintained throughout, en route to a 55-44 win at home Thursday over the Effingham Lady Hearts.
Middleton knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the opening eight minutes, as Paris took an 18-13 lead. The Lady Tigers then were on top 30-23 at halftime and 41-32 heading into the final period.
Effingham got within three on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but no closer. Madyson Rigdon scored 7 of her 13 points in that final period, helping the Lady Tigers improve to 17-3 on the season. Middleton finished with a game-high 19 points.
Ella Niebrugge led the Lady Hearts with 11 points, while Sawyer Althoff and Meredith Schaefer both scored 8.
The Lady Hearts dipped to 12-6 on the season. They will compete in the Vandalia Mid-Winter Tournament next week. They will play two games Monday – against Centralia at 10 a.m. and against Vandalia at 1 p.m.
The Effingham Lady Hearts will compete in the Vandalia Mid-Winter Girls Basketball Tournament.
There will be five teams competing in the round robin tourney – Effingham, Centralia, Greenville, Mascoutah and Vandalia.
Games are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Jan. 17-21.
Here is the schedule:
Monday, Jan. 17:
10 a.m. – Centralia vs. Effingham
11:30 a.m. – Greenville vs. Mascoutah
1 p.m. – Effingham vs. Vandalia
2:30 p.m. – Mascoutah vs. Centralia
Wednesday, Jan. 19
6 p.m. – Effingham vs. Greenville
7:30 p.m. – Vandalia vs. Centralia
Thursday, Jan. 20
6 p.m. – Vandalia vs. Mascoutah
7:30 p.m. – Centralia vs. Greenville
Friday, Jan. 21
6 p.m. – Mascoutah vs. Effingham
7:30 p.m. – Greenville vs. Vandalia
The Effingham Hearts will compete in the 70th annual Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament.
The tournament will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 19, with games also played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-22.
There are eight teams in this year’s field – Champaign Central, East St. Louis, Carbondale, Salem, Effingham, Madison, Mt. Vernon and Thornton Fractional North.
The Hearts will face Madison at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 20. It they win, they will play at 8 p.m. Friday. If they lose, they will return to action at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Here is the schedule of opening-round games:
Wednesday, Jan. 19
6:30 p.m. – Champaign Central vs. East St. Louis
8 p.m. – Carbondale vs. Salem
Thursday, Jan. 20
6:30 p.m. – Effingham vs. Madison
8 p.m. – Mt. Vernon vs. Thornton Fractional North
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
In basketball, if a team shoots good, it looks good.
Based on that criteria, the Effingham Hearts looked fantastic Tuesday night.
The Hearts blistered the nets from the beginning and never cooled off. They shot a torrid 67 percent overall – 61 percent from behind the arc.
The Hearts built a double-digit lead in the first quarter and it just continued to expand. A game that most believed would be close throughout never was. In fact, the continuously running “mercy clock” was invoked in the fourth quarter.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Hearts had posted an impressive – and convincing – 64-36 win at Newton.
“It’s hard to beat a team that shot like we did tonight,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We worked the ball inside-out, kicking it out to guys that were wide open on the perimeter. We did a great job of finding shots within the flow of our offense. That’s the best we’ve played all season.”
And the shooting barrage started early.
The Hearts had a 4-3 edge 2½ minutes into the game, but then knocked down a three on four straight possessions – by four different players. Jett Volpi, who had 5 of Effingham’s 11 threes, got it started. Garrett Wolfe, Dalton Fox and Ethan Ritz then got into the act, giving the Hearts their first double-digit lead, 16-5, at the 2:18 mark.
The margin was never single digits again.
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