After an 11-day layoff, the Effingham Hearts returned to the basketball court Tuesday night.
And the results were not good.
The Hearts didn’t make a basket until the second quarter, fell behind quickly and dropped a lopsided 64-24 decision at Mattoon.
“We couldn’t get into a flow,” said EHS coach Obie Farmer. “You could tell Mattoon had a couple games since we played last. You can’t replicate true game speed in practice. You can try as much as you want to make things game-like, but there is no substitute for game reps.”
Effingham was scheduled to play Taylorville last Thursday, but the game had to be cancelled due to COVID issues in Taylorville. The affect of such a long layoff became apparent from the very beginning Tuesday night.
The Hearts managed just four free throws and trailed 12-4 after the opening eight minutes. Things just got worse from there. The Green Wave led 26-11 at halftime, 43-18 after three quarters and then went on a 21-6 scoring run to close out the game.
“They do things really well on the defensive end,” Farmer noted. “They are long and cover passing lanes well. Their zone defense is really solid.
“And we didn’t play tough basketball,” the EHS coach added. “Plus, we made a lot of mental mistakes, got lost on our defensive assignments and couldn’t penetrate their zone. We struggled the entire game. Toughness encompasses a lot of things and we talk about it often. But we didn’t play with any toughness in this game.”
Garrett Wolfe had 13 points for Effingham, while Mattoon had two players in double figures – Cooper Bergstrom with 15 points and Jaylen Middleton with 13.
The Hearts dipped to 2-3 on the season and are now 0-1 in the Apollo Conference. They will return to conference play Friday night with a road game at Mahomet-Seymour.
“We have a lot to work on,” Farmer said. “We have an inexperienced team, so the more games we get under our belt, the better we will be. As long as we continue to grow and be receptive to criticism, we will improve.”
So far, the 2021-22 season has been perfect for the Effingham Lady Hearts.
Seven games.
Seven wins.
Effingham notched No. 7 Saturday with a 45-27 victory over North Clay in Louisville.
The Lady Hearts led throughout. They were up 13-8 after the opening eight minutes and expanded that to double digits at halftime, 26-16. EHS then went on a 13-4 scoring run in the third period to build a 19-point cushion, 39-20.
Ella Niebrugge and Bria Beals both scored in double figures for the Lady Hearts. Niebrugge knocked down four three-pointers for 12 points, while Beals had a pair from long range and finished with 10, all in the first half.
Effingham, now 7-0 on the season, will face a pair of tough Apollo Conference challenges this week. The Lady Hearts will host Mattoon on Thursday and then travel to Mahomet-Seymour on Saturday.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
It was a bad combination.
Mattoon plays predominantly zone defense and plays it well.
Effingham had not spent much time working on its zone offense and it showed.
“I’ll take the blame for that,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We’ve been working so hard getting our man-to-man offense going, we just didn’t invest much time for the zone; not as much time as it deserved.”
As a result, the Hearts had difficulty showing any consistency on offense and didn’t shoot the ball well.
That, plus a big scoring run to open the fourth period proved to be the difference as Mattoon pulled away to post a 54-40 victory Saturday in the third place game of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.
“We were a little stagnant,” Farmer added. “We hadn’t really worked on it yet and we weren’t comfortable. We never did find a flow or a rhythm. We’ll be more prepared for it next time.”
Yet, it was still just a seven-point margin, 35-28, heading into the final eight minutes. Actually, a three-pointer by Jett Volpi had trimmed the lead to 33-28 before Mattoon’s Christian Larson made two free throws with just three seconds to go in the third period.
That was the beginning of a deciding 15-2 run. The Green Wave made five free throws to start the fourth period. After Brayden Pals hit a jumper for Effingham, Mattoon got four points from Taerick Grace and two from Sam Bradbury and Blaine Powers to open a 48-30 cushion with just 1:42 remaining.
The Hearts made only one basket in the first seven minutes of the period.
The Effingham Lady Hearts notched their sixth straight win to open the season, posting a 38-34 road victory Tuesday night at Taylorville.
And doing so despite a cold shooting night.
The Lady Hearts made just 13-of-47 shots, an icy 28 percent. That included 4-of-19 from three-point range.
But they made enough to open their Apollo Conference schedule with a win.
Effingham jumped out to a 15-6 lead after the opening eight minutes, but made just one shot in the second period. Taylorville took advantage and went on a 9-2 run to close within 17-15 at intermission.
The game remained close throughout the second half. The Lady Hearts were still up two, 27-25, after three quarters and outscored the Lady Tornados 11-9 in the final period to secure the victory.
Meredith Schaefer led EHS with 18 points. Madison Mapes added nine.
The Lady Hearts are now 6-0 on the young season. They will play a non-conference game Saturday at North Clay.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Jeff Schafer likes what he sees in his basketball team.
And why not?
“They play hard,” Effingham’s veteran coach noted. “Even when they make a mistake, they just keep playing. I think that’s what I like most about this team. They play the next possession the best they can. You’re right. I do like what I’m seeing.”
The Lady Hearts completed their four-game sweep through the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament by posting a 56-41 victory over Altamont Friday afternoon, clinching the championship of the annual tourney in Newton.
Effingham never trailed. A free throw by Marissa Allie broke an early tie and sparked a 12-5 run that gave the Lady Hearts a 14-7 lead after the opening eight minutes. Meredith Schaefer scored five points and Ella Niebrugge got her second double-double performance underway with four points and seven rebounds.
It was still a seven-point spread, 17-10, when the Lady Hearts took total control with a 16-6 run to close out the first half. Schaefer knocked down a three and scored eight points and Krista Phillips came off the bench to add four more, helping EHS build a 33-16 advantage as the teams headed to the locker room at intermission.
“We’re playing similar to the way we played this summer,” Schafer explained. “I really like how they play together. There’s no selfishness, plus this is a smart group. We can do a lot of different things because they pick stuff up so quickly. This is a fun group to coach.”
Schafer wasn’t as happy with his team the second half, especially as the turnovers continued to pile up. The Lady Hearts were guilty of 15 miscues in the final 16 minutes, most of which were caused by Altamont’s Grace Nelson.
The sophomore standout had eight steals on her own and converted each one into a layup. She had two other layups after her teammates came up with steals as well, en route to a 31-point performance. Even with all those easy baskets, however, the closest the Lady Indians got was 13 points, 38-25, midway through the third period, and 54-41 late in the contest.
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