The Effingham Lady Hearts battled Olney all the way in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon, before dropping a 53-42 decision.
It was a close game throughout until the Lady Tigers went on a 23-11 scoring surge in the fourth period to come away with win and improve to 26-4 on the season.
The Lady Hearts held a slim one-point lead after each of the first three periods – 11-10 after the opening eight minutes, 22-21 at intermission and 31-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
Taylor Armstrong turned in a strong performance and scored 17 points for EHS. Annie Frost added eight.
The Lady Hearts, now 12-18, will open postseason play Monday in the Olney Class 3A Regional. They will face Mt. Vernon at 7:30 p.m. Charleston and Olney are the other two teams in the regional. The championship game is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Aggressive. Athletic. Tenacious.
Explosive. Physical. Precise.
Take your pick. All of these words describe the Lincoln basketball team.
And you could add dominating when you consider their results this season -- 24-2 overall; 10-0 in the Apollo Conference; and ranked No. 8 in the Class 3A poll.
The Railsplitters brought all of those accolades and their state ranking into Friday night’s contest at Effingham.
Yes, Lincoln went home with a 62-46 victory, but they knew they had received a challenge from the Hearts.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or what the score is, our guys are going to battle; and they’re going to battle the whole game,” said EHS coach Obie Farmer.
That mentality was tested at the very beginning.
The Hearts started slow – real slow. They missed their first six shots and turned the ball over three times in the first 5½ minutes of the contest. Lincoln, meanwhile, made six of its first eight shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, and jumped out to a 15-0 lead at the 2:34 mark of the opening period.
Prior to the game, Effingham coach Obie Farmer said his team really needed a win.
Well, they got one and in a big way.
The Hearts used red-hot shooting to grab an early lead and literally dominated throughout, finishing with a convincing 93-38 victory at home Tuesday night over Charleston.
It was never a contest. EHS scored the first 12 points and the rout was on. The lead ballooned to 24-4 after eight minutes and was 54-15 at intermission.
“We shot really well,” Farmer said. “And the shots we didn’t make, Nate (Thompson), Stoney (Jacob Stoneburner) and Brayden (Pals) cleaned up on the boards. Plus, Charleston had a hard time stopping us in transition and it didn’t help them that their shots weren’t falling on the other end.”
The Hearts made 56 percent of their shots, connecting on 35 of 63 attempts overall. They were 13-of-25 from three-point range and 8-of-10 from the foul line. Effingham also held a commanding 43-23 rebounding edge.
The trio of Parker Wolfe, Nate Thompson and Drew Thompson combined to score 78 points. Wolfe, fresh off a 41-point performance Saturday night at Mahomet-Seymour, pumped in 31 against the Trojans. He was 13-for-20 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
Nate Thompson made 9-of-13 shots, including 3-of-4 from long range to finished with 24 points, while Drew Thompson knocked down 6-of-12 three-pointers and scored 23. Nate Thompson also pulled down 11 rebounds, giving him a double-double.
Farmer also mentioned the play of Dylan Ritz.
“Dylan was an excellent addition tonight,” the EHS coach noted. “He didn’t score much, but he did other things that made a huge impact on the game. He rebounded, ran in transition, defended well and was relentless the entire time he was in the game. Our entire coaching staff was impressed by his play tonight.”
The Hearts, now 15-9 on the season and 5-4 in the Apollo Conference, will host Lincoln Friday night. The Railsplitters are undefeated in conference play at 9-0 and are 23-2 overall.
The Hearts also won the junior varsity game 59-54. Jett Volpi scored 17 points and Max Woelfer added 13.
Lincoln used a 21-8 second quarter scoring edge to pull ahead and went on to post a 60-34 win Thursday night at home over the Effingham Lady Hearts.
The Lady Railsplitters led 13-7 after the opening eight minutes, but expanded their advantage to 34-15 at halftime. Heading into the final period, Lincoln owned a commanding 46-19 lead.
Leah Schneider poured in 21 of her game-high 25 points in the first half to help the Lady Railsplitters take control.
Ella Niebrugge led EHS with nine points, while Annie Frost and Hayley Diveley both scored six.
The Lady Hearts finished 4-8 in the Apollo Conference and dipped to 12-17 overall. They will complete their regular season schedule Saturday at home against Olney.
Effingham will then open play in the Olney Regional on Monday. The Lady Hearts will face Mt. Vernon at 7:30 p.m.
Parker Wolfe was 30 points away from becoming the 13th Effingham player to score 1,000 points.
After three quarters Saturday night at Mahomet-Seymour, it appeared as if the EHS junior would probably accomplish that Tuesday night at home against Charleston.
He had scored 15 points and the Hearts trailed 65-51.
But in the final eight minutes, Wolfe put on a shooting clinic. He went 9-for-11 from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers, and also knocked down 7-of-8 free throws to tally 26 points in the fourth quarter and crack the 1,000-point plateau.
He finished with 41 points Saturday night and added 31 more Tuesday night in Effingham’s 93-38 victory over Charleston. The point guard now has 1,042 points and sits 12th all-time on the Effingham scoring list.
He also becomes the third son of Dave and Angie Wolfe’s to score at least 1,000 points in their career. Landon Wolfe became the school’s all-time leading scorer last year, finishing with 2,126 career points. Grant Wolfe completed his EHS career in 2017 as the school’s fourth leading scorer with 1,669 points.
Page 62 of 74
