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.

The Effingham Lady Hearts jumped out to a quick lead Monday night, en route to a 45-37 conference road win at Taylorville.

The Lady Hearts raced to a 14-4 advantage after eight minutes and maintained their lead throughout. EHS led 24-15 at halftime and 32-25 after three periods.

Two freshmen led Effingham in scoring. Ella Niebrugge had 13 points and Annie Frost added 12.

The Lady Hearts improved to 11-12 on the season and 4-4 in the Apollo Conference. EHS will return home and play Teutopolis Friday night.

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.

Effingham was well represented on the Salem Invitational All-Tournament Team. Pictured (left to right) are Nick Thompson, Drew Thompson and Parker Wolfe. The Hearts defeated Mt. Vernon and Teutopolis before losing to East St. Louis in the championship game Saturday night. ET Sports Report Photo by Steve Raymond.