Numerous Effingham High School athletes were recognized at the Winter Sports Banquet. That included girls freshman-sophomore basketball. Individual award winners for the frosh-soph were: Best Defensive Player – Natalie Lohman (left); Most Improved – Lily Waymoth (center); and Hustle Award – Lydia Kull.

Obie Farmer knew Centralia was very good on offense.

And he found out quickly just how right he was.

The Orphans started the game red hot, built a 27-6 lead and then went on to defeat Effingham, 61-47, Wednesday night in a semifinal game of the Effingham Class 3A Regional.

Centralia, now 23-7, will face Carbondale for the regional title. That game is set for 7 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to the Mt. Vernon Sectional.

The Orphans took control early and built what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

Freshman Koby Wilmoth knocked down four of the team’s six 3-pointers in the first eight minutes. He had 14 points, while teammate Jamie Long added another three and eight points and Tryce Westbrook also connected from long range.

When the quarter ended, Centralia had a 21-point cushion.

“They are a very disciplined team,” Farmer said. “They are very good, very crisp on offense. You hope they make some bad choices, but they don’t very often.

“They hit a lot of shots, but we eventually settled down and actually played pretty good basketball,” Farmer added. “You just can’t give yourself a 20-point deficit and expect to win.”

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The Winter Athletic Banquet for individuals involved in boys basketball, basketball cheerleading, and pom pon will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, at Effingham High School Hearts Rock Café.

The cost for a dinner ticket will be $7. All EHS winter student-athletes will eat free.

Dinner tickets for other family members should be purchased at the door.

The Taylorville Tornadoes did everything they could to take Parker Wolfe and Drew Thompson out of the game at the offensive end.

That’s okay.

Nate Thompson and Tate Niebrugge stepped up and made them pay.

That duo combined for 36 points Friday night, leading the Effingham Hearts to an 80-71 win at home on Senior Night.

“Taylorville came out in a triangle-and-2 on Parker and Drew,” EHS coach Obie Farmer explained. “I don’t blame them. Those two can really pile up the points.

“But they didn’t count on Nate and Tate scoring a bunch,” Farmer added. “We ended up playing a lot of 3-on-3 and really cut them up. We ran some set plays and everybody got shots and made them. It worked out real well.”

The Hearts led 13-11 after the opening eight minutes. Nate Thompson made a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the second period, and Niebrugge also knocked down a three and tallied five points, giving the Hearts a 33-24 edge heading to the locker room at intermission.

Effingham maintained the lead throughout the second half. Niebrugge drilled two more from behind the arc and scored 12 second-half points. Wolfe was limited to three baskets in the game, but made 9-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter. Overall, the Hearts shot 26 free throws in the final eight minutes, making 19 of them.

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