Jackson Braun proved to be tough to handle.
Charleston’s 6’6” senior pumped in 20 points and controlled the inside, helping the Trojans stay unbeaten in the Apollo Conference by posting a 55-45 victory Tuesday night at Effingham.
The Hearts led at every stop through three quarters – 13-12 after the initial eight minutes; 24-22 at intermission; and 38-37 entering the fourth period.
But Braun scored six points and teammate William Applegate went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in that final quarter, as the Trojans outscored the Hearts, 18-7, to pull away and secure the victory. Charleston is now 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the Apollo.
“Braun killed us, especially on the boards. I think he had eight offensive rebounds alone,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “He is long and athletic and was about 95 percent of our problem tonight. We had a hard time with him last year, too. He’s a very good player. I think he’s better than (Sam) Bradbury from Mattoon.”
Jett Volpi knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored 10 points in the first half, as the Hearts managed to maintain a slim lead. Dalton Fox had his best shooting performance of the season. He connected on three shots from behind the arc, including two in the first half.
Volpi scored seven more points in the third period and EHS took the one-point margin into the final eight minutes.
“For most of the game, we played within ourselves,” Farmer said. “I thought we played pretty good defense overall, didn’t turn the ball over much and were a little better on the offensive end. We’ll keep making adjustments and tweaking a few things. I feel like we’re really close to turning the corner.”
Volpi finished with 17 points and Fox added 10.
The Hearts dipped to 2-7 on the season and are now 0-3 in the Apollo Conference. They will be at home again next Tuesday, hosting Taylorville in another conference game.
The Effingham Lady Hearts returned to the win column in a big way Tuesday night.
After dropping their past two games, the Lady Hearts raced to a big early lead and never looked back, rolling to a 58-10 victory at Charleston.
Six different girls scored in the first eight minutes, as EHS built a 22-5 advantage. By intermission, Effingham was in total control, 35-8.
The Lady Hearts then outscored the Lady Trojans 16-0 in the third period, en route to the lopsided, 48-point decision.
A total of 13 girls played for Effingham. Sawyer Althoff and Saige Althoff led the scoring attack with 10 points each. Madison Mapes scored nine, while Ella Niebrugge and Marissa Allie both chipped in with seven.
Effingham improved to 8-2 overall and 2-2 in the Apollo Conference. The Lady Hearts will return to action Thursday, traveling across town to play St. Anthony. EHS will then play again Friday at Lincoln.
It didn’t take long to be reminded just how tough the Apollo Conference is.
After opening the season with seven straight wins, the Effingham Lady Hearts played this week against the two teams most believe to be the two best in the Apollo.
After falling to Mattoon on Thursday, Effingham faced another tough test Saturday, and the result was a 58-36 setback at home against Mahomet-Seymour.
The Lady Hearts got off to a better start Saturday. After falling behind 14-0 and 24-4 early against Mattoon, the EHS girls battled the Lady Bulldogs on even terms in the first quarter.
Sawyer Althoff scored four points and Effingham trailed by just one point, 9-8, after the initial eight minutes. But Mahomet-Seymour controlled things from there. The guests built a 26-17 lead at halftime and increased the advantage to 43-27 after three quarters.
Meredith Schaefer led the Lady Hearts with 11 points, while Althoff added eight.
Effingham dipped to 7-2 overall and 1-2 in the Apollo Conference. The Lady Hearts will travel to Charleston on Tuesday and will then play Thursday at St. Anthony.
The Effingham Hearts faced a couple tough opponents the past two nights.
On Friday night, EHS traveled to Mahomet-Seymour and dropped a 46-35 decision in an Apollo Conference game.
Then on Saturday, the Hearts competed in the Nokomis Shootout and faced an undefeated Centralia squad. Effingham played strong, but were handed a 42-29 setback.
Scoring continues to be a struggle.
Quenton Rogers knocked down a three and scored nine points, helping the host Bulldogs build a 19-11 lead after the opening period. The Bulldogs then outscored EHS 20-11 over the next two quarters to build the margin to 39-22 after three periods.
“We’re just not looking to score,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We’re running our sets well, but we need to improvise a little to put ourselves in position to score. We need to improve on that.”
Andrew Splechter led the Hearts with 12 points. Rogers finished with 11 for Mahomet-Seymour.
Effingham was right back at it Saturday and gave the Orphans everything they could handle. The Hearts were within four points in the fourth period before Centralia was able to pull away and secure its seventh win of the season.
The Orphans grabbed a 12-5 lead after the initial eight minutes, but Effingham was within 21-16 at intermission. Centralia led 33-22 after three quarters.
“They have an excellent offense they run against a man-to-man defense and they run it very well,” Farmer noted. “So we decided to play zone against them and we caused them some problems.
“We had nothing to lose tonight,” Farmer added. “Our kids played real hard against a team that I’m sure will be ranked in the top 10. They’re very talented. They’ve got shooters, a 6’7” kid inside and they rebound well.”
Ethan Ritz came off the bench to lead the Hearts with eight points, while Garrett Wolfe scored seven and Armando Estrada added six.
“Ethan had an awesome game,” Farmer said. “He came in and played hard. He hit a couple shots and rebounded well. I told him after the game I was proud of him.”
Koby Wilmoth and Davin Tabor led the Orphans with 14 and 13 points respectively.
The Hearts dipped to 2-5 on the season and are now 0-2 in the Apollo Conference. They are scheduled to play three home games this week – Tuesday against Teutopolis; Thursday against Charleston; and Saturday against Lincoln.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For 27 minutes, Effingham and Mattoon battled on pretty even terms.
But the first five minutes of the game was a much different story.
On one end of the floor, the Lady Hearts were missing shots and turning the ball over.
At the other end, the Lady Green Wave were executing at a high level.
The result was a 14-0 run to start the game and a 22-2 lead just five minutes into the contest.
The Lady Hearts managed to cut into that gap at times, but when the final horn sounded, Mattoon had posted a 59-35 win on the road.
“We did not match their intensity at the beginning,” said EHS coach Jeff Shafer. “They are very aggressive, especially with their pressure. That pressure just took us out of the game at first. They have really good players and they played great.”
Mattoon’s standout, Mallory Ramage, started her record-breaking performance just 26 seconds into the contest. She actually scored her team’s first seven points. Lily Ghere then knocked down a three-pointer and followed with another bucket and Chloe Pruitt converted an Effingham turnover into a basket and it was 14-0 just 3½ minutes into the game.
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