The Taylorville Lady Tornados lit it up from long range Tuesday night.
The Lady Tornados knocked down nine three-pointers, helping them pull away for a 68-33 win at home over the Effingham Lady Hearts.
Kyleigh Heimsness connected on five from behind the arc and finished with 16 points, while sophomore Addison Tarr had two threes and finished with a game-high 23 points.
Taylorville didn’t have a three in the first eight minutes, but still held a slim 9-6 lead. But Heimsness drained three from long and scored nine points and Tarr also had a three and scored eight points, as the Lady Tornados expanded their lead to 31-20 at halftime.
THS then outscored the Lady Hearts 37-13 in the second half.
Madison Mapes and Ella Niebrugge both scored 10 points for Effingham.
The Lady Hearts dipped to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in the Apollo Conference. They will return home and play Paris on Thursday. That will also be Alumni Night.
All former girls basketball players and managers, as well as former Effingham coaches, are invited to come and celebrate EHS coach Jeff Schafer becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history.
All former alumni and coaches will be admitted into the game that night for free. In addition, Schafer will be recognized for his accomplishments. The recognition will take place prior to the varsity contest.
Following the varsity game, there will be a reception for Coach Schafer in the gym lobby.
Caden Nichols scored 13 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, helping the Newton Eagles secure a 70-63 victory at Effingham.
The Hearts had battled back from an early deficit to tie the game, 44-44, entering the final eight minutes. But Nichols had his big scoring outburst, plus the Eagles made 13-of-19 free throws, allowing them to pull away at the end.
Newton led 15-7 after the first period and 30-24 at halftime.
Four Eagles were in double figures. Nichols led the way with 25 points, while Parker Wolf scored 18, Kye Bergbower had 11 and Dylan Gier added 10.
Effingham’s Garrett Wolfe led all scorers with 26 points. Andrew Splechter had 12 and Andrew Donaldson added 11.
The Hearts are now 6-12 for the season. They will play at home Friday against Taylorville in an Apollo Conference contest.
It’s hard to win a basketball game when you shoot 19 percent.
The Effingham Lady Hearts found that out Saturday.
Effingham simply couldn’t buy a basket and dropped a 54-41 Apollo Conference decision at Mt. Zion.
The Lady Hearts were within 13-10 after the first period, but the Lady Braves then outscored EHS 16-8 in the second quarter to take a double-digit, 29-18, advantage to the locker room at intermission.
It remained a double-digit margin most of the second half. The Lady Hearts trailed 38-26 after three quarters and couldn’t close the gap down the stretch.
Ella Niebrugge was the only Lady Heart in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Madison Mapes added eight.
Effingham dipped to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in league play. The Lady Hearts will travel to Taylorville on Tuesday.
The Effingham girls basketball program will host an Alumni Night on Thursday, Jan. 12.
Effingham will play host to Paris.
All former girls basketball players and managers, as well as former Effingham coaches, are invited to come and celebrate EHS coach Jeff Schafer becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history.
All former alumni and coaches will be admitted into the game that night for free. In addition, we will also be recognizing Schafer for his accomplishments. The recognition will take place prior to the varsity contest.
Following the varsity game, there will be a reception for Coach Schafer in the gym lobby.
We look forward to the celebration and hope to have a huge turnout for that event.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Mt. Zion Braves are tall and quick.
They are aggressive at both ends of the floor and feature a balanced scoring attack.
And they are poised to be a force to reckon with for years as they start three sophomores and a junior and have a talented 6’7” freshman as their sixth man.
All of this was on display Friday night when the conference-leading Braves paid a visit to Effingham.
The Hearts played hard and even led early. But in the end, it was the talented Mt. Zion squad that came away with a 59-48 victory.
“The sky is the limit for that team,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “They are a very talented team. But this type of game makes us better and helps prepare us for the post-season. We grew some tonight by playing a team like Mt. Zion.”
Farmer’s game plan was clock management.
“The more we have the ball, the less they do,” he said. “We wanted to run 30 seconds or more off the clock with each possession. When we had the opportunity to score, we took them. But we wanted to pass up the good shot for a great shot.”
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