Basketball

By Stever Raymond

ET Sports Report

“They aren’t undefeated in the conference by accident. They are very, very talented.”

That’s what Effingham coach Jeff Schafer said about Mattoon after the Lady Green Wave posted a 63-32 victory over the Lady Hearts Thursday night.

The visitors never trailed. Mattoon broke out to a quick 11-2 lead. But Hayley Diveley hit a 3-pointer and then a short jumper to get EHS within 11-7 with 2:32 to play in the opening period.

But the Lady Green Wave then went on a 13-0 scoring run over the following 3½ minutes to take control of the game. With seven minutes to play in the opening half, Mattoon owned a 24-7 lead.

“We simply didn’t match their intensity,” Schafer noted. “When we actually attacked, we didn’t do too bad. But they did a good job switching up their defenses.”

Mattoon’s full court press caused problems. The Lady Hearts turned the ball over 14 times in the first 16 minutes and the Lady Green Wave scored after nine of those, including several layups.

“Turnovers turned into easy baskets and really got them going,” Schafer said. “They pressed us, pressed us and pressed us some more and I’m glad they did. We need to get better at it. The girls weren’t getting to the right spots and it resulted in several turnovers.”

Effingham grabbed an early lead and freshman Annie Frost nearly turned in a double-double Monday night, as the Lady Hearts went on the road and posted a 57-41 victory at Champaign Centennial.

EHS jumped out to a 20-9 lead after eight minutes and increased it to 31-15 at halftime, en route to its 12th win of the season.

Frost pumped in 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the way. Hayley Diveley added 11 points and Ella Niebrugge chipped in with nine, helping the Lady Hearts improve to 12-14 on the season.

Effingham will return home Thursday night to face Mattoon in an Apollo Conference matchup.

The Effingham and Teutopolis freshman and sophomore basketball teams faced each other Saturday and split the two games.

In the freshman contest, the Wooden Shoes prevailed 53-41, but the Hearts bounced back to win the sophomore game 45-41.

In the freshman game, T-Town jumped out to a 16-7 lead and increased it to 33-20 at halftime. Caleb Siemer led the Shoes with 18 points, while Bloemer added 14. Dillow and Donaldson both scored eight points for Effingham.

The sophomore contest was close throughout. EHS led 10-9 after eight minutes, 23-18 at intermission and 33-28 heading into the fourth quarter. Zerrusen and Wolfe both had nine points for Effingham, while Buscher scored eight for Teutopolis.

Mt. Zion’s Abby Scharf hit a three-pointer with just one second to play Saturday, giving the Lady Braves a 46-45 victory at home over Effingham.

The Lady Hearts played a strong game the entire way, but Mt. Zion was able to rally in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory.

Effingham led 11-9 after the first period, 19-16 at intermission and 34-25 heading into the final eight minutes. But Mt. Zion outscored the Lady Hearts 21-11 in the fourth quarter to get the win and improve to 21-5 overall and 9-1 in the Apollo Conference.

Freshman Ella Niebrugge led EHS in scoring with 13 points. Sawyer Althoff had eight and Annie Frost added seven.

The Lady Hearts, now 4-5 in the Apollo Conference and 11-14 overall, will play tonight (Monday) at Champaign Centennial.

Teams live by the three and die by the three.

The Effingham Hearts experienced both highs and lows Friday night.

After connecting on seven shots from behind the arc in the first half, the Hearts went 0-for-15 in the second half and dropped a game they were expected to win.

The Mt. Zion Braves were behind by nine points after the first period, but then outplayed Effingham the rest of the way to post a 50-44 Apollo Conference victory at home.

“It’s uncharacteristic for us to shoot that poorly,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “If we hit even one of those shots in the second half, it’s quite possibly a different game. But we didn’t shoot well and we simply got outplayed.”

Drew Thompson and Parker Wolfe both hit a pair of threes and Nate Thompson added another, helping the Hearts build a 17-8 lead after eight minutes. But Mt. Zion responded with a 22-8 scoring surge in the second period to take a 30-25 lead into the locker room at intermission.

The Braves extended their lead to 42-35 after three quarters and managed to hang on for the win. Mt. Zion gave the Hearts ample opportunities. The Braves didn’t make a field goal in the final eight minutes and only converted 8 of their 16 foul shots.

But the Hearts scored just nine points in the quarter and finished with a disappointing loss.

Wolfe scored 22 points and Drew Thompson added 16 for EHS.

The Hearts dipped to 14-8 on the season and 4-3 in the Apollo. They will return to action Saturday, Feb. 8, with a game at Mahomet-Seymour.