Mt. Zion used a 12-3 scoring surge in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead, en route to a 47-35 victory at home Saturday.
The Lady Braves held a slim 20-18 advantage at halftime, but expanded their lead to 32-21 heading into the final eight minutes.
“We played pretty good at times today,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “But we have yet to play a full game. We had a bad nine-minute stretch from the end of the second quarter until midway in the fourth. Against a team like Mt. Zion, with all of their experience, it makes it really hard to come back on them.”
Effingham had just three players score, but Hayley Diveley had a big game offensively. She connected on three 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 26 points.
“Hayley played the best varsity game of her career,” Schafer noted. “She had a great week of practice and carried that over into the game.
Callie Feldhake also had a strong overall game with seven rebounds, three assists and four steals; and Annie Frost had four points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Hearts are now 5-4 overall and 2-2 in the Apollo Conference. Mt. Zion improved to 10-3 and is unbeaten at 5-0 in the conference.
Effingham will now compete in the Charleston Girls Holiday Tournament, which begins Friday. The Lady Hearts will play two games that day – at noon against Teutopolis; and at 7:30 p.m. against Charleston.
Whatever was causing Parker Wolfe’s shooting to be a little off seems to be corrected.
The Effingham junior has struggled with his shot in a couple recent games. But appears he figured out why and it was evident Friday night.
Wolfe went 6-for-6 from behind the arc – all in the first period – sparking the Hearts to a big early lead, en route to a convincing 79-60 decision at Charleston.
Wolfe’s 18 points helped Effingham build a 28-12 lead after the opening eight minutes. By halftime, the Hearts owned a whopping 27-point advantage, 45-18.
Wolfe ended up 8-for-16 from the field and finished with a game-high 27 points. Drew Thompson, who was 12-of-14 from the free throw line, scored 18, and Nate Thompson turned in a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Hearts, who improved to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the Apollo Conference, will be back in action today (Saturday). They will be at home against Newton. The junior varsity game will start at 2 p.m., with the varsity contest to follow.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
It wasn’t pretty, except for the end result.
“We didn’t play great, but we found a way to win,” said Effingham girls basketball coach Jeff Schafer, as he perfectly summed up Thursday night’s game.
Despite turning the ball over 20 times and missing several open shots near the basket, the Lady Hearts still emerged with a 41-29 victory at home
“I’m very happy with how we stuck with it,” Schafer noted. “We didn’t let our offense affect our defense. We need to rebound better and take better care of the ball, but you always want to celebrate a win, especially a conference win.”
The Lady Hearts held a slim 20-19 edge four minutes into the second half when Hayley Diveley came alive at the offensive end. The junior guard connected on two 3-pointers and added two free throws, helping EHS close out the third quarter on a 10-2 run and build a 30-21 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.
Diveley added another shot from behind the arc in the fourth period, giving her 11 points in the half and expanding Effingham’s lead to 11 at 37-26, with 2:44 to play.
“Hayley hit some big shots for us,” Schafer said. “She probably could have had a few more if she hadn’t been unselfish. I liked seeing her step up and hit those shots. She’s a gamer. She’s not afraid and she’ll compete hard every game.”
Unbeaten Lincoln outscored Effingham 31-17 in the second half Friday night to break open a close game and post a 56-39 victory at home.
The Hearts fell behind by double digits early, trailing 15-5 after the opening eight minutes. But EHS then opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 16-15 lead. Lincoln came back to take a 25-22 lead as the teams headed to the locker room at intermission.
The Railsplitters, who improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Apollo Conference, built the lead to 39-29 after three quarters and then outscored Effingham 17-10 in the final eight minutes to seal the victory.
Lincoln had four players score in double figures, but Effingham had just one – Parker Wolfe, who led the Hearts with 23 points.
EHS also dropped the junior varsity game by a score of 41-27. Brayden Pals had seven points.
Effingham, now 5-2 overall and 1-1 in league play, will return home Tuesday to face county rival Teutopolis. The Hearts will then travel to Charleston on Friday and play at home Saturday against Newton.
The 7th annual Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic should be a great one.
The field includes 16 quality teams that should provide plenty of competitive games over three days.
This year’s tournament will be played Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 26-28. Games will be played in Effingham and Teutopolis.
The full schedule is listed below:
Thursday, Dec. 26
At Teutopolis
Game 1 – 3 p.m. – Lincoln Way East vs. Mattoon
Game 5 – 4:30 p.m. – Oak Lawn vs. Lawrenceville
Game 3 – 6 p.m. – St. Anthony vs. Pleasant Plains
Game 7 – 7:30 p.m. – Teutopolis vs. Chicago Brooks
At Effingham
Game 2 – 3 p.m. -- Champaign Centennial vs. Antioch
Game 4 – 4:30 p.m. – Central A&M vs. Charleston
Game 6 – 6 p.m. – Chicago Corliss vs. Dixon
Game 8 – 7:30 p.m. – Effingham vs. Sacred Heart Griffin
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