By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The focus was on stopping Caleb Gephart.
And overall, the Effingham Hearts did a decent job of that, although Dieterich’s senior forward still finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.
But it was Lucas Westendorf and Landen Keck that did the most damage for the hot-shooting Movin’ Maroons.
The two juniors scored 24 and 23 points respectively, helping Dieterich post a 79-62 win at home Tuesday night over the Hearts.
“We knew they had three guys that could score, but we felt Gephart was exceptional,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “He’s been their guy this year, so we tried to focus on him. But give Keck and Westendorf credit. They stepped up and made shots.”
Even though the final margin was 17 points, it wasn’t an easy win for the Maroons. Even though they led by double digits for a good portion of the game, the Hearts continued to battle throughout, cutting the margin to six or seven points on multiple occasions.
As was the case when Hayden Wendling knocked down a jumper 29 seconds into the final period, trimming the Dieterich lead to 57-51. It had been a 16-point lead with less than three minutes left in the third quarter.
The Maroons got it back to an 11-point spread, but a three-pointer by Cannon Bockhorn got EHS within 64-57 with 5:21 to play.
The Effingham Lady Hearts were not challenged Monday morning.
They built a 28-2 lead after the first period and coasted to a 66-20 win over the Salem JV team in an opening-round game of the Vandalia Invitational.
It was 45-9 at halftime and 61-14 after three periods.
Effingham had four players in double figures. Averie Wolfe led the way with 12 points, while Alyssa Martin and Sidney Donaldson both had 11 and Bria Beals added 10.
The Lady Hearts are now 18-4 on the season. They will now face either Salem (varsity) or Mascoutah in a semifinal contest. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Effingham Lady Hearts will compete next week in the Vandalia Invitational Basketball Tournament.
There are eight teams in this year’s tournament. In addition to Effingham, Salem (varsity), Mascoutah, Greenville, Wesclin, Centralia, Vandalia and Salem (junior varsity) will compete.
The Lady Hearts are the No. 1 seed.
Games will be played on four days, beginning Monday, Jan. 15, and concluding Saturday, Feb. 20. All games will be played at Vandalia High School.
Here is the schedule.
Monday, Jan. 15
Game 1 – 10 a.m. – Effingham vs. Salem JV
Game 2 – 11:30 a.m. – Salem (varsity) vs. Mascoutah
Game 3 – 1 p.m. – Greenville vs. Wesclin
Game 4 – 2:30 p.m. – Centralia vs. Vandalia.
The Taylorville Tornadoes placed five players in double figures Thursday night, en route to a 67-46 victory at home over Effingham.
Taylorville built an 18-8 lead after the first eight minutes and then outscored the Hearts 26-13 in the second quarter to take a 44-21 lead to the locker room at halftime. It was 59-31 heading into the final period.
Dillon Clark led the Tornadoes with 16 points, while Clark Durbin scored 14, Owen Younker had 13 and both Jake McConnell and Baron Odom added 10.
Cannon Bockhorn, Hayden Wendling and Rylan Pals all had eight points for Effingham.
The Hearts are now 2-18 overall and 1-5 in the Apollo Conference. They will play at Dieterich on Tuesday.
Bella Austin made 5-of-6 free throws and scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, helping the Effingham Lady Hearts maintain their lead and post a 44-38 victory at Paris.
Effingham led by 10 points at halftime, 24-14, but the hosts made a second half comeback. The Lady Tigers trimmed the gap to 29-24 after three quarters and then scored 14 points in the final eight minutes. But Austin came through down the stretch and Bria Beals knocked down a key three-pointer, helping the Lady Hearts secure the win.
Averie Wolfe connected on three shots from behind the arc and scored 13 points – all in the first half – to lead the EHS scoring attack. Austin and Sidney Donaldson both scored seven.
The Lady Hearts are now 17-4 on the season. They will open play in the Vandalia Tournament Monday.
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