By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Less than five minutes into the game, Jeff Schafer had a decision to make.
Stay with his game plan or make a switch.
He decided to stick with the game plan.
As it turns out, he chose wisely.
A zone defense designed to help offset Mt. Zion’s height advantage proved effective the entire game. And a strong offensive performance in the final eight minutes helped the Effingham Lady Hearts gain control and come away with a big 43-33 Apollo Conference victory at home Saturday afternoon.
With 6’ Denver Anderson and 6’3” Jocelyn Turner anchoring Mt. Zion’s lineup, Schafer knew he needed to do something defensively to contain them.
“Our goal was to sandwich the big girl (Turner) and also cover the high post (Anderson),” Schafer explained. “We worked on it this week in practice and I thought they ran it to a ‘T’. The girls did such a good job today. I’m really proud of them.”
But at the 3:17 mark of the opening period, Turner had hit a short jumper, Anderson had turned an EHS turnover into a basket and Maddie Kendall had knocked down a long three, helping the Lady Braves to an early 9-4 lead.
“I thought about changing defenses,” Schafer admitted. “Things hadn’t started very well, but I remembered the game last year. We tried playing them man-to-man and that didn’t work out very well. So, I decided to stick to my guns.”
The Mt. Zion Braves are the real deal.
And they show it Friday night.
The Braves used a 25-7 scoring advantage in the second period to gain control, en route to a 69-27 victory at home over Effingham.
Mt. Zion is now 16-0 overall and 4-0 in Apollo Conference play.
Three-pointers by Cannon Bockhorn, KJ Kellams and Ryan Pals in the opening quarter helped the Hearts stay within 17-9. But Mt. Zion’s Lyncoln Koester knocked down a trio of shots from behind the arc and scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the second period, as the Braves increased their advantage to 42-16 at intermission.
Heading into the final eight minutes, the hosts were on top, 57-19.
Pals led Effingham with nine points.
The Hearts are now 2-15 overall and 1-4 in the Apollo. They will be back in action tonight (Saturday) with a game at Robinson.
The Effingham Lady Hearts used a 29-12 scoring surge in the middle two quarters Tuesday night to pull away for a 51-26 win at Newton.
EHS held a 12-6 lead after the opening period, but then built leads of 22-9 at halftime and 41-18 at the end of the third quarter.
Averie Wolfe connected on four shots from behind the arc and scored 14 points to lead the Lady Hearts in scoring. Olivia Moser was also in double figures with 10 points.
Effingham improved to 15-3 on the season. The Lady Hearts will return to action Saturday at home. They will host Mt. Zion in an Apollo Conference contest.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Olney (East Richland) Tigers are considered one of the top teams in the area and they showed why Tuesday night.
They knocked down four three-pointers in the opening period, built an early double-digit lead and were never threatened, finishing with a 52-26 victory at Effingham.
Ian Winkler connected on three of those shots from behind the arc and scored 13 points in the first eight minutes.
Olney held a slim 7-5 lead midway through that first quarter. But a three by Colby Redman sparked a scoring run. Winkler added two threes, including one in the final seconds, giving the Tigers a 20-7 advantage.
“Olney presents a big challenge because they have so many weapons,” said EHS coach Obie Farmer. “They have shooters and slashers, plus the big kid in the middle. They move the ball well and have a great knack for the game.
“They’re like a whack-a-mole,” Farmer added. “You take away one scorer and another one pops up.”
A jumper by Ethan Jones to open the second period got the Hearts within 11 points, but they never got any closer the rest of the way. Another three by Redman gave the Tigers a 17-point cushion, 30-13. It was a 16-point spread, 32-16, at intermission.
Belvidere jumped out to a double-digit lead Saturday morning and went on to defeat Effingham, 59-46, in the tournament finale for both teams.
Belvidere finished 1-3, while the Hearts were 0-4 during the three days of the Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic.
The Bucs built a 20-7 lead after the opening eight minutes. It was 30-16 at halftime and 46-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jason Dean led Belvidere with 13 points, while Demetrious Taborn added 11.
Effingham’s Nolan Fearday had game-high scoring honors with 14 points and Hayden Wendling chipped in with 12.
The Hearts are now 2-14 on the season. They will return to action on January 2 with a home game against Olney.
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