By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Taking care of the basketball.
That’s something every coach of every basketball team at every level stresses.
Turnovers generally have a negative impact on a game.
Unfortunately, the Effingham Lady Hearts were reminded of that Friday night.
They turned the ball over 24 times in the game, including four in the final 90 seconds, and that proved to be too much to overcome.
The Mattoon Lady Green Wave took advantage of those miscues, plus they knocked down nine three-pointers, to come away with a 56-54 win in the championship game of the Class 3A Mattoon Regional.
The Lady Green Wave now advance to the Centralia Sectional. They will face Highland at 6 p.m. Tuesday night.
“We talked all year about taking care of the basketball,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “We just didn’t value the ball tonight, and as a result, we wasted too many opportunities.”
Yet, the Lady Hearts battled to the very end.
The Mt. Zion Braves completed an undefeated Apollo Conference season Thursday night by posting a 67-43 win at home over Effingham.
Mt. Zion placed four players in double figures, en route to their 12th straight league win without a defeat.
The Braves led 18-13 after the first period and increased that to double digits by halftime, 35-24. The hosts then outscored the Hearts 19-9 in the third quarter to take total control of the contest.
Carson Cuddy had 14 points, while Brayden Trimble scored 12 and both Grant McAtee and Lyncoln Koester added 11 for Mt. Zion, which improved to 27-4 overall on the season.
Andrew Splechter led Effingham with 15 points and Andrew Donaldson added 13.
The Hearts dipped to 11-19 overall and finished conference play at 4-7. They will open postseason play Saturday. They will travel to Marion for a quarterfinal round game of the Mt. Vernon Class 3A Regional. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
With six minutes left to play in the game, the Effingham Hearts owned a 12-point lead.
That’s when Hearts fan probably got nervous. And understandably so.
On more than one occasion this season, Effingham has let fourth quarter leads slip away.
But not Saturday.
Garrett Wolfe hit a jumper and Andrew Donaldson knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the game to quickly expand the margin back to 17 points.
The Hearts then closed the game on a 10-0 run to secure a 66-44 win over Jerseyville in the fourth game of the Wooden Shoes Shootout, played at J.H. Griffin Gymnasium in Teutopolis.
“The difference today was we executed,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We valued the ball, we rebounded and our defense kept their players in front of us. We checked all the boxes. When we do those things, we’re going to be successful.”
The Hearts never trailed in the game. Donaldson connected on his first two shots from behind the arc less than 90 seconds into the contest. The second one gave Effingham a 6-3 lead – a lead it never relinquished.
The Effingham Lady Hearts will have a chance to claim a regional title for the first time since 2019.
And Coach Jeff Schafer cracked the 20-win plateau for the 14th time in his 25-year career.
All that was accomplished Monday night when Effingham rolled to an 87-15 win over Charleston in a semifinal game of the Class 3A Mattoon Regional.
That sets up the “rubber match” between the Lady Hearts and the host Lady Green Wave. Effingham got a 45-40 victory in December, but Mattoon bounced back to post a 50-46 decision just last month.
The two squads will now square off for the regional championship Friday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Centralia Sectional.
The regional opener was no contest. The Lady Hearts build a 19-5 lead after the first eight minutes and then outscored the Lady Trojans 27-0 in the second period to take a comfortable 46-5 lead at intermission.
Fourteen Lady Hearts saw action and 13 of them got into the scoring column. Alyssa Martin and Bria Beals led the team in scoring, as both netted 11 points. Madison Mapes and Ella Niebrugge were also in double figures, both getting 10.
EHS improved to 20-10 on the season. Schafer, who is the winningest coach in EHS history, now has 469 career wins.
The Effingham Lady Hearts rebounded from an early double-digit deficit and then used a big third quarter to surge ahead, en route to a 53-33 victory Wednesday night at Olney (Richland County).
The host Lady Tigers built a 22-11 lead midway through the second period. The Lady Hearts got three-pointers from Bria Beals and Averie Wolfe to get within 26-22 at halftime and then exploded in the third quarter.
Madison Mapes connected on three shots from behind the arc to spark a 19-4 scoring surge. Ella Niebrugge also had a three, as EHS built a 41-30 lead heading into the final eight minutes. The Lady Hearts continued to pull further ahead down the stretch, finishing with a 31-7 scoring advantage in the second half and a 20-point win.
Mapes finished with five three-pointers and a game-high 20 points. Alyssa Martin and Niebrugge both added seven.
The Lady Hearts improved to 19-10 on the season. They will be back in action tonight (Thursday) with a home game against Mt. Zion.
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