For the second straight game, Effingham’s opponent had a record-setting night from three-point range.
Centralia knocked down 16 shots from behind the arc on Wednesday night, setting a new school record, and Champaign Central equaled that Saturday afternoon, also connecting on 16 shots from long range, en route to an 82-36 victory over the Hearts in the Salem Invitation Tournament.
It tied the Champaign Central school record.
Later Saturday, EHS also dropped a 55-41 decision to Charleston in both teams’ final game of the tourney.
Champaign Central was red hot from the beginning. The Maroons made three shots from behind the arc in the first period – all three by Luke Swanson – to build an 18-6 lead after the opening eight minutes. They then connected on six more from long range in the second quarter to build a 22-point halftime lead, 38-16.
Swanson and Chris Bush shared game-high scoring honors for the Maroons with 17 points apiece. Hayden Wendling and Nolan Fearday were both in double figures for Effingham, finishing with 13 and 10 points respectively.
In the second game, Charleston outscored the Hearts 20-8 in the fourth quarter to pull away and post the 55-41 win. The Hearts trailed by just two points entering the final eight minutes.
The Trojans held a 23-17 halftime lead, but Wade Bushur and Ethan Jones both scored five points in the third period, helping EHS go on a 16-12 run and close to within 35-33.
Rylan Pals led the Hearts in scoring with 10 points, while KJ Kellams added nine.
The Hearts dropped to 2-22 on the season. They will celebrate Senior Night on Tuesday and play host to Hutsonville.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For the first four minutes, Jeff Schafer didn’t like what he was seeing.
His Effingham team had already turned the ball over four times.
But in the final four minutes, the Lady Hearts defense started to take control.
Effingham closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run and never looked back Wednesday night, finishing with a 61-39 victory over Salem in a semifinal game of the Vandalia Invitational Tournament.
“There was no reason for those early turnovers,” Schafer said. “We were trying to play too fast. The girls weren’t in our offensive sets yet, and that caused some really bad passes. But then we got settled in, especially defensively. Almost all our offense tonight fed off our defense.”
That defense forced 14 first-half turnovers – seven in both quarters – and the Lady Hearts converted several of those into baskets.
A basket by Salem’s Marah Johnson had the Lady Wildcats within 8-5 at the 2:01 mark of the opening period. But they didn’t score again for five minutes. And by that time, Effingham had taken over the game.
A three-pointer by Bria Beals sparked the 18-0 run. Another three by Averie Wolfe made it 14-5 at the end of the opening eight minutes.
But the scoring surge was just getting started.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The focus was on stopping Caleb Gephart.
And overall, the Effingham Hearts did a decent job of that, although Dieterich’s senior forward still finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.
But it was Lucas Westendorf and Landen Keck that did the most damage for the hot-shooting Movin’ Maroons.
The two juniors scored 24 and 23 points respectively, helping Dieterich post a 79-62 win at home Tuesday night over the Hearts.
“We knew they had three guys that could score, but we felt Gephart was exceptional,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “He’s been their guy this year, so we tried to focus on him. But give Keck and Westendorf credit. They stepped up and made shots.”
Even though the final margin was 17 points, it wasn’t an easy win for the Maroons. Even though they led by double digits for a good portion of the game, the Hearts continued to battle throughout, cutting the margin to six or seven points on multiple occasions.
As was the case when Hayden Wendling knocked down a jumper 29 seconds into the final period, trimming the Dieterich lead to 57-51. It had been a 16-point lead with less than three minutes left in the third quarter.
The Maroons got it back to an 11-point spread, but a three-pointer by Cannon Bockhorn got EHS within 64-57 with 5:21 to play.
The Centralia Orphans knocked down 16 three-pointers Wednesday night, en route to a 77-37 victory over Effingham in an opening-round game of the Salem Invitational Tournament.
Michael Organ connected on six shots from behind the arc, while Cruz Harlan made five more, helping the Orphans improve to 20-1 on the season.
The Hearts kept it close in the first quarter. Cannon Bockhorn made two shots from three-point range, helping EHS stay within 14-12. But Organ made three shots from long range and scored 11 points in the second quarter, as Centralia built a 35-22 lead at halftime.
The Orphans then drilled seven more threes in the third quarter, sparking a 33-4 run that widened the gap to 68-26.
Organ finished with 22 points and Harlan added 15.
Bockhorn paced Effingham with 12 points.
The Hearts are now 2-20 for the season. They are scheduled to be back in action at 11 a.m. Saturday. They will face either Champaign Central or Salem.
The Effingham Lady Hearts were not challenged Monday morning.
They built a 28-2 lead after the first period and coasted to a 66-20 win over the Salem JV team in an opening-round game of the Vandalia Invitational.
It was 45-9 at halftime and 61-14 after three periods.
Effingham had four players in double figures. Averie Wolfe led the way with 12 points, while Alyssa Martin and Sidney Donaldson both had 11 and Bria Beals added 10.
The Lady Hearts are now 18-4 on the season. They will now face either Salem (varsity) or Mascoutah in a semifinal contest. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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