Mt. Vernon used a big second quarter to seize the lead and then maintained it throughout, en route to a 55-44 road victory Monday night over the Effingham Lady Hearts.

The score was 14-14 after the opening eight minutes. The Lady Rams then went on an 18-2 scoring run to open the second quarter. The Lady Hearts were hurt by 15 first-half turnovers and trailed 36-21.

Effingham took better care of the basketball in the second half and stepped up its defense as well. Mt. Vernon had difficulty scoring in the third period, but the Lady Hearts weren’t able to take advantage. EHS did outscore the guests 9-5 to close within 41-30.

But the Lady Rams then went on an 8-1 run to open the final eight minutes to go up 49-31. The Lady Hearts had a strong fourth period. Ella Niebrugge hit a pair of threes and scored eight points to help EHS get back to within 11 points at the end.

Mt. Vernon improved to 10-6 with the win. The Lady Rams had three players in double figures, led by Annibelle Harrison’s 13 points. Zana Das scored 11 and Kennady Hayes added 10.

Effingham had eight different players score, led by Callie Feldhake’s 10 points. Niebrugge and Hayley Diveley both added eight.

The Lady Hearts shot 33 percent from the game, connecting on 15-of-45 shots overall. They were 6-for-17 from behind the arc and 8-of-15 from the foul line. EHS finished with 21 turnovers, but held a 33-19 rebounding advantage.

Effingham dipped to 7-8 on the season. The Lady Hearts will be back in action tonight (Tuesday) with an Apollo Conference game at Mahomet-Seymour. EHS will return home Thursday night to play another league game against Lincoln.

Lincoln Way East outscored Chicago Corliss 29-21 during the middle two quarters Saturday night and went on to post a 56-50 victory and claim the championship of the 7th annual Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic.

The Griffins, who got past Oak Lawn in a semifinal clash Friday night, finished the tournament 4-0 that also included wins over Mattoon and Pleasant Plains.

Ty Slager had a big game for LWE. The senior guard pumped in 23 points to lead all scorers. Ryan Sucha added 16 points for the winners. Na’shawn Townsen and Jadon Williams both scored 13 points for Corliss, who was in the championship game for the second time in three years. The Trojans won the tournament in 2017.

In the third place game, Trey Ward poured in 32 points to lead Oak Lawn to a 69-64 double overtime victory over Champaign Centennial.

The Spartans held a 32-20 halftime lead, but Centennial outscored Oak Lawn 28-16 in the second half to force the overtime. Both teams scored four points in the first extra session, but the Spartans then had a 17-12 scoring edge in the second overtime.

Fifth place went to Pleasant Plains, who is coached by former Teutopolis standout Kyle Weber. The Cardinals used a 19-9 third quarter scoring advantage to help post a 69-57 decision over Central A&M.

Justin Guernsey scored 35 points to lead Pleasant Plains, while Griffin Andricks and Connor Heaton poured in 24 and 21 points respectively.

Here are the other scores from the final games Saturday:

Consolation Championship – Sacred Heart Griffin 64, Teutopolis 56

7th Place Game – Effingham 76, Chicago Brooks 47

11th Place Game – St. Anthony 36, Antioch 33

13th Place Game – Charleston 50, Lawrenceville 40

15th Place Game – Mattoon 58, Dixon 46

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

For nearly three quarters, the Effingham Lady Hearts gave heavily-favored Sacred Heart Giffin all it wanted.

But when a team misses its first six shots of a game and then its last 12, that generally doesn’t produce a successful result.

Well, that’s exactly what transpired Monday afternoon.

The Lady Hearts simply couldn’t score with any kind of consistency. And tallying only two free throws in the fourth period allowed the Lady Cyclones to pull away and post a 45-25 victory in the third place game of the Charleston Girls Holiday Tournament.

“Our effort was great,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “We played very good defense, we rebounded well and we ran our offense well. We just missed shots; a lot of them.”

Midway through the third period, the Lady Hearts were only three points down, 22-19. But from that point on, they made only 2 of their final 15 shots.

Jillian Hulcher hit a pair of free throws that started a 7-0 run that built SHG’s first double-digit lead, 29-19. Callie Feldhake hit a shot right at the end of the quarter for the Lady Hearts to keep it a 10-point spread, 33-23, heading into the final eight minutes.

Sophie Lowis, an  all-tournament selection for the Lady Cyclones, had been held in check for most of the game. But she scored eight straight points to open the final period – six of those coming on SHG’s only two 3-pointers of the game – and the margin ballooned to 18 points, 41-23, at the 4:32 mark.

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The Effingham Lady Hearts have posted a 2-2 record in the Charleston Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament and will play for third place Monday afternoon.

After an opening-round loss to Teutopolis, EHS defeated Charleston and Cairo, before falling to undefeated Paris Saturday night.

Against the host Lady Trojans Friday night, who are playing without their standout player, Shea Littleford, EHS jumped out to a quick lead and rolled to a 55-22 victory.

The Lady Hearts raced to a 15-4 lead after eight minutes, led 23-10 at halftime and expanded the margin to 41-19 after three quarters.

They had three players in double figures, led by Annie Frost’s 14 points. Hayley Diveley scored 11 and Taylor Armstrong added 10.

“We bounced back nicely in the late game,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “We played a lot better, cut down our turnovers and rebounded well. Our bench came in and did a nice job, too.”

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