Three days – three games – three wins.
The Effingham Lady Hearts have been busy notching victories, the latest a 57-39 win Saturday afternoon at Mahomet-Seymour in an Apollo Conference contest.
After winning at Mattoon Thursday and at home against Teutopolis the following night, the Lady Hearts jumped on top quickly at Mahomet-Seymour and never looked back.
Alyssa Martin scored eight points and Averie Wolfe and Bria Beals both scored five, helping EHS build a 20-9 lead after the first period. Seven different girls scored in the second period and the Lady Hearts expanded their advantage to 16 points, 37-21, at intermission.
Martin finished with a game-high 21 points and Beals joined her in double figures with 10. Effingham was 16-for-18 at the free throw line.
The Lady Hearts improved to 23-4 overall and 5-3 in the Apollo. They will be back in action Tuesday night at home against Charleston. It will be Senior Night.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
One coach described it as strong defense.
The other coach saw it as not taking care of the basketball.
Both coaches were right.
The Effingham Lady Hearts turned in an incredible defensive effort Friday night, creating 22 turnovers and forcing a myriad of difficult shots.
The Teutopolis Lady Shoes made a rash of poor passes, resulting in way too many wasted offensive possessions and some easy transition points for EHS.
The end result was a convincing 53-34 home victory by the Lady Hearts.
“We knew we had to keep them out of the lane, prevent them from attacking the basket and then we had to rebound,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer explained. “Our goal was to make them take tough shots. I thought we did a really good job of helping out on defense and keeping them from getting to the rim. Our girls played real hard tonight.”
T-Town’s Laurie Thompson was frustrated by her team’s performance.
“We didn’t make good decisions with our passing, we didn’t take care of the ball and we didn’t rebound,” the veteran coach noted. “All those things just created a perfect storm. Everything we were wanting to do, we did wrong. But kudos to Effingham. They caused all that.”
After a three-pointer followed by a short jumper by Chloe Probst, the Lady Shoes had an 8-6 lead at the 2:51 mark of the opening period. It was their first and last lead of the contest.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The final horn sounded.
The Effingham Hearts raced to the locker room.
The celebration was on.
And why not?
It had been 18 games and 54 days since their last win.
And after posting a 53-45 win Tuesday night at home over Oblong/Palestine/Hutsonville (OPH), the Hearts were more than ready to enjoy the moment.
“The locker room was electric,” said a smiling EHS coach Obie Farmer. “The kids were pumped. The water bottles were emptied and they were jumping up and down. I’ve never had a team more deserving of a win than these guys.
“They never have a bad practice,” Farmer added. “These kids work their butts off and try their hardest to apply what we’re teaching them. I’m really proud of them.”
But it didn’t come easy.
In fact, with 4:14 to play, EHS held the slimmest of leads, 46-45. OPH had just scored the first seven points of the final period and appeared to have the momentum. The Hearts had missed three shots from behind the arc and turned the ball over twice. That’s when Farmer called a timeout.
“I told the kids to play our game,” Farmer noted. “I told them we needed to find better shots. You have to learn how to win, but we haven’t been in very many close games. I thought the kids executed better after that timeout.”
The Effingham Lady Hearts went on the road Thursday night and brought home a 42-36 Apollo Conference victory over Mattoon.
Averie Wolfe connected on a pair of threes and Bella Austin scored five points, helping EHS jump out to a 15-9 lead after the first period. The Lady Hearts then led 21-14 at halftime and 30-28 heading into the final eight minutes.
Bria Beals then drilled a three-pointer and scored five points and Austin made three late free throws to help Effingham secure the win.
Austin finished with 10 points to lead EHS, while Wolfe, Beals and Saige Althoff each scored seven.
The Lady Hearts are now 21-4 overall and 4-3 in the Apollo. They will be back in action tonight (Friday) with a home game against Teutopolis.
The Effingham Lady Hearts erased an early deficit and rallied for a 40-29 victory over Greenville Saturday in the championship game of the Vandalia Invitational Tournament.
Greenville broke out to a 10-5 lead after one quarter and led by as many as 10 points before the Lady Hearts surged back. Effingham outscored the Lady Comets 20-10 during the middle two quarters to build a 25-20 lead and then outscored Greenville 15-9 in the final eight minutes to secure the win.
Sidney Donaldson scored 12 points to lead Effingham, while Bria Beals also finished in double figures with 10. Bella Austin reached the 1,000-point plateau in her career by scoring four points.
The Lady Hearts are now 20-4 on the season. They will return to Apollo Conference action Thursday night with a game at Mattoon. They will then return home Friday to play Teutopolis.
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