By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Yes, high school basketball is back.

Thanks to COVID, there was no jump ball, no cheerleaders, no pep band, fewer than 50 people in the bleachers and no popcorn.

And, yes, everyone in the gym -- players, coaches, officials and fans -- had masks on.

But once the game started, the focus was directed to the action on the court.

Expectations for this Effingham Hearts team are high. And Saturday’s season opener only reinforced that.

The Hearts scored the first 10 points and never looked back. Nate Thompson and Parker Wolfe both recorded a double-double, leading EHS to an easy 87-38 victory at home Saturday afternoon over the Vandalia Vandals.

“It was just great to be playing again,” EHS coach Obie Farmer admitted. “We haven’t competed in a high school basketball game in pretty close to a year. It felt good to finally be on the court and to get a win heading into conference play.”

Read more ...

Even though an official banquet could not be held due to COVID-19 concerns, Effingham Basketball Coach Obie Farmer has released the award winners for the 2019-20 boys basketball season.

Here are the varsity award winners:

Offensive MVP – Parker Wolfe

Defensive MVP – Parker Wolfe, Jacob Stoneburner

Hustle Award – Dylan Ritz

Toughness Award – Jacob Stoneburner

Most Improved – Tate Niebrugge

Highest Free Throw Percentage – Drew Thompson

Leading Rebounder – Nate Thompson

Most Blocked Shots – Nate Thompson

Leadership Award – Tate Niebrugge

Outstanding Sophomore – Brayden Pals

Here are the junior varsity award winners:

Offensive MVP – Max Woelfer

Defensive MVP – Jakob Logan

Hustle Award – Jakob Logan

Toughness Award – Jakob Logan

Here are the sophomore award winners:

Offensive MVP – Jett Volpi

Defensive MVP – Dalton Fox

Hustle Award – Garrett Wolfe, Landon Rinkel

Toughness Award – Max Hardiek, Landon Rinkel

Most Improved – Andrew Splechter

Leadership Award – Quest Hull

Unfortunately, we, the Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic committee, have made the tough decision to cancel our tournament for this year.

In order to ensure the safety of everyone involved and adhere to the guidelines set forth by the State of Illinois and the Illinois High School Association, we felt that it was best not to host the tournament.

Our committee wanted to make this decision at an early date, so our participating teams could have time to reschedule.

Thank you to everyone for the support the last several years and we will see you all in 2021 for some fantastic basketball.

Stay safe and healthy!

Effingham juniors – Parker Wolfe and Nate Thompson – were both named to the Apollo Boys All-Conference Basketball Team.

Wolfe was selected to the first team, while Thompson was part of the second-team. All total, 10 boys were picked.

Joining Wolfe on the first team was Kaden Froebe (Lincoln), Grant Coleman (Mahomet-Seymour), Jase Bergschneider (Taylorville) and Kamren Whiteman (Lincoln).

In addition to Thompson, the second team included Will Ewald (Lincoln), Dylan Singleton (Lincoln), Isaac Miller (Charleston) and Sam Bradbury (Mattoon).

The Lincoln Railsplitters won the conference championship with a perfect 12-0 record. Mahomet-Seymour was runner-up at 10-2, followed by Effingham at 7-5, Taylorville 6-6, Charleston 3-9, Mattoon 3-9 and Mt. Zion 1-11.