By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Now that was a championship-caliber game.
It wasn’t always pretty, but both squads gave 100 percent effort. “They left it all on the floor,” as the saying goes.
Neither team shot well, but credit that to the defenses.
The game was tied with less than two minutes to play and it was just a three-point margin in the waning seconds, setting up a potential game-tying three-point attempt.
When that shot missed, Ryan Schmidt grabbed the rebound and made a free throw with only three ticks remaining on the clock, securing the hard-fought 41-37 victory St. Anthony posted over Altamont Tuesday night at The Enlow Center.
It also clinched the National Trail Conference regular season championship for the Bulldogs, who finished 8-0 in league play. Altamont is now 6-1 in the NTC with a game at Windsor/Stew-Stras scheduled for Friday.
“We needed this; a game that challenged us,” said St. Anthony coach Cody Rincker. “We needed to see what we’re made of. In the postseason, we’re going to be in games like this.”
John Niebrugge, the head coach for the Indians, was proud of his team’s performance. They were playing without two starters – Dillan Elam, out with a knee injury; and Eli Miller, out with the flu.
“We were literally down an arm and a leg,” Niebrugge said. “We had kids step up in different roles tonight. I’m proud of how the kids took on such a great team with a great coach in a hard place to play. They left everything out there on the floor.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
When it comes to closing out a basketball game, the Effingham Lady Hearts put on a clinic Monday night.
Over the final eight minutes, they were tenacious on defense, grabbed every rebound in sight and knocked down shot after shot.
As a result, what was a closely contested game turned into a runaway.
When the final horn sounded, the Lady Hearts owned a 55-34 victory over Troy Triad in a semifinal game of the Class 3A Salem Regional.
Effingham, the regional’s No. 2 seed, will face No. 5 Centralia for the regional championship. The game is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Salem High School. The Orphan Annies defeated Bethalto Civic Memorial 62-50 in Monday night’s second game.
“All seven of the girls played important roles tonight,” said EHS coach Jeff Schafer. “Everybody played hard and did a nice job. I was very pleased.”
Heading into the final quarter, the game was still up for grabs. The Lady Hearts had led since the end of the second quarter, but it was only a six-point margin, 36-30, when the fourth period started.
Things changed quickly.
The Effingham Lady Hearts will take a 10-game winning streak into the postseason.
They notched their 10th straight win Saturday with a low-scoring 38-29 Apollo Conference decision at Mt. Zion.
The Lady Hearts did shoot well, connecting on just 11-of-32 attempts overall, a 34 percent clip. But they made enough shots to secure the win and head into the postseason with a lot of momentum.
Effingham started strong. Averie Wolfe connected on a three-pointer and scored seven points, helping the Lady Hearts build a 13-5 lead after the opening eight minutes. The margin stayed about the same the rest of the game. EHS led 23-15 at halftime and 29-22 after three quarters.
Wolfe finished with a game-high 13 points.
The Lady Hearts improved to 26-4 overall and finished conference play with a 7-3 mark, good enough for a second place finish.
Now its postseason time. The Lady Hearts are the No. 2 seed in the Salem Regional and will open play at 6 p.m. Monday against either Salem or Troy Triad.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Alton Redbirds jumped ahead early and never looked back.
They used their quickness and athleticism to apply tough defensive pressure and that provided positive results.
The Redbirds forced eight first-quarter turnovers, converted five of those into baskets and built a double-digit lead in the first three minutes of the game Saturday afternoon.
When it was over, the team from the Metro East Conference had posted a 69-37 victory over Effingham in the third game of the 11th annual Teutopolis Wooden Shoes Shootout.
Six of those eight turnovers came in opening 3½ minutes. And as the steals mounted, so did Alton’s lead. The shooting of Semaj Stampley was also a factor. The sophomore guard hit four shots, including three from behind the arc, to help the Redbirds race to the quick lead.
His third basket from long range, made it 17-2 at the 4:32 mark of the first period.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
With a big conference game and regular season finale the next night, Jeff Schafer didn’t know what to expect.
Wednesday night’s matchup with Olney could have easily been one of those “gotcha” situations.
But the Effingham Lady Hearts didn’t let that happen.
They built a double-digit lead early and then cruised to a 55-23 win at home.
“The girls were razor-focused from the beginning,” Schafer said. “They came out ready to play. They made a great defensive stand on the very first possession and that set the tone. Our defense was really, really good tonight.”
The Lady Tigers like to shoot three-pointers. The EHS defense limited them to just 11 attempts from behind the arc and only two went in.
“To hold that team to just two threes is something,” Schafer noted. “Coming into the game, I thought if we held them to five or fewer, that would be really good. I thought we did a great job defending that.”
Olney didn’t get off a single shot from three-point range in the first quarter, and by the time those first eight minutes ended, the host Lady Hearts were in control.
Sidney Donaldson hit three shots to provide an offensive spark for EHS. Averie Wolfe knocked down a three and Saige Althoff scored four points. The Lady Hearts used an 11-2 run to close out the period and build a 15-4 advantage.
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