The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs will be participating in the 43rd annual Mattoon Holiday Basketball Tournament.
The tournament is scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 27-29.
There are eight teams entered in this year’s event.
Mattoon, Richland County (Olney), Altamont and Mahomet-Seymour are in Pool A.
St. Anthony, Galesburg, Champaign Central and Sullivan are in Pool B.
Each team is guaranteed five games and all games will be played at Mattoon High School.
The full schedule is listed below:
Tuesday, Dec. 27
Game 1 – 8:30 a.m. – St. Anthony vs. Champaign Central
Game 2 – 10 a.m. – Mahomet-Seymour vs. Richland County
Game 3 – 11:30 a.m. – Mattoon vs. Altamont
Game 4 – 1 p.m. – Sullivan vs. Galesburg
Game 5 – 3 p.m. – Altamont vs. Mahomet-Seymour
Game 6 – 4:30 p.m. -- Galesburg vs. Champaign Central
Game 7 – 6 p.m. – Richland County vs. Mattoon
Game 8 – 7:30 p.m. – St. Anthony vs. Sullivan
Wednesday, Dec. 28
Game 9 – 8:30 a.m. – Champaign Central vs. Sullivan
Game 10 – 10 a.m. – St. Anthony vs. Galesburg
Game 11 – 11:30 a.m. – Richland County vs. Altamont
Game 12 – 1 p.m. – Mattoon vs. Mahomet-Seymour
Game 13 – 4 p.m. – 3rd Place Pool A vs. 4th Place Pool B
Game 14 – 5:30 p.m. – 4th Place Pool A vs. 3rd Place Pool B
Game 14 – 5:30 p.m. – 4th Place Pool A vs. 3rd Place Pool B
Game 15 – 7 p.m. – 1st Place Pool A vs. 2nd Place Pool B
Game 16 – 8:30 p.m. – 2nd Place Pool A vs. 1st Place Pool B
Thursday, Dec. 29
Game 17 – 3 p.m. – Loser Game 13 vs. Loser Game 14
Game 18 – 4:30 p.m. – Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14
Game 19 – Loser Game 15 vs. Loser Game 16
Game 20 – Winner Game 15 vs. Winner Game 16
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Jeff Schafer expected a low-scoring game and he was right.
Unfortunately, the proverbial “lid” was on the basket in the second half for his Effingham girls basketball team. The Lady Hearts made just 3-of-17 attempts in the final 16 minutes, scored only eight total points and that proved decisive.
Highland was able to erase a six-point halftime deficit and came back to post a 38-34 win Thursday night at EHS.
Despite the shooting woes, the Lady Hearts were right there at the end and had a chance to either tie or win the game.
After Highland’s Abby Schultz missed a pair of foul shots, Saige Althoff hit a short jumper to get the Lady Hearts within two, 36-34, with 40 seconds remaining. Effingham then forced a turnover 11 seconds later. Coach Schafer called a timeout to set up a final play.
“We wanted to drive the ball to the basket,” he explained. “If the defense came to help, we could skip a pass to the corner.”
That’s exactly what happened and it left Bria Beals with a good look from behind the arc. Her shot looked good all the way, but it rimmed out. Schultz grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and this time, converted both free throws to secure the win.
“Bria’s shot looked so good,” Schafer said. “The girls ran the play and we got a good shot. I was pleased with that.”
Charleston used a big second quarter to build a sizeable halftime lead, en route to a 62-33 win at home Thursday night over Effingham in an Apollo Conference contest.
The Trojans held an 18-10 lead after the opening eight minutes, but then went on a 19-5 scoring surge to increase their advantage to 37-15 at halftime. Charleston then outscored the Hearts 17-4 in the third period to take a 54-19 lead into the final quarter.
Cannon Bockhorn led Effingham with 10 points.
The Hearts dipped to 2-10 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Their next game will be in the Effingham-Teutopolis Christmas Classic. EHS will face Champaign Centennial at 7:30 p.m.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Jeff Schafer was a bit puzzled.
His Lady Hearts were only trailing by one point at the end of the third period.
“But I kept thinking, ‘How did we get here? How are we this close?’” he thought. “I felt like we had been dominated for three quarters.”
The Effingham Lady Hearts responded with a strong fourth quarter to come away with a 71-61 win Thursday night over a good St. Anthony team.
The Lady Bulldogs held a slim 47-46 edge entering the final eight minutes. But Effingham then managed to turn things around.
After making just 2-of-13 three-point attempts through three quarters, the Lady Hearts knocked down three in the fourth period. After turning the ball over 15 times in the first three quarters, they had only three miscues down the stretch. And after making just 6 of their first 16 free throws, they made 13 of their final 16.
That combination proved successful, as EHS outscored St. Anthony 25-14 to notch their 10th win of the season.
“We played one good quarter, but it was enough tonight,” Schafer said.
It was a game of scoring runs.
It was closer than expected – for a half.
But then the Effingham Lady Hearts got rolling.
Effingham used a 43-6 scoring surge in the second half to pull away and post a 61-21 victory Monday night at Charleston.
The Lady Hearts shot a frigid 25 percent in the first 16 minutes, including an 0-for-8 showing from behind the arc, and held a slim 18-15 advantage at intermission.
But when the shooting improved in the second half, EHS quickly put the game out of reach. The Lady Hearts outscored the Lady Trojans 25-6 in the third period to increase the lead to 43-21 and then finished the contest on an 18-0 run.
Bria Beals and Saige Althoff shared scoring honors for Effingham, both finishing with 13 points. Bella Austin also reached double figures with 10.
The Lady Hearts improved to 9-2 overall and are now 2-2 in the Apollo Conference. They will return to action Thursday, traveling across town to face St. Anthony.
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