Hearts See Season Come to an End; Other Tuesday Scores

The Effingham Hearts saw their season come to an end Tuesday night, losing to the Mt. Vernon Rams 71-54 in the semifinals of the Effingham Class 3A Regional. The game at EHS was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

The one thing the Hearts couldn't afford to have happen, happened early in the game. Mt. Vernon came out hot and when they didn't hit their first shot they always seemed to be getting the rebound and a putback basket. The Rams had early leads of seven or eight points, but Grant Wolfe hit a three-pointer at the end of the first period to pull the Hearts back within four at 21-17.

The second quarter hurt, as Mt. Vernon outscored the Hearts 16-8 in the period to claim a 37-25 halftime lead. The second half was pretty even, as each team scored 10 points in the third quarter and Mt. Vernon outscored the Hearts 24-19 in the final period to win by 17 points.

Mt. Vernon shot 53% from the field, both from three-point and from two-point range. The Rams made 23 of 43 shots including eight of 15 three-point tries. They also made 17 of 23 foul shots, turned the ball over just 10 times and grabbed 22 rebounds.

The Hearts shot 49% from the field, 19 of 39, but just two of 10 from three-point range. Effingham was stellar at the foul line, making 14 of 16 tries. The Hearts turned the ball over 12 times and pulled down 18 rebounds.

The Hearts' guard combo of Braydon Bone and Grant Wolfe each 17 points to pace Effingham, while Michael Carie scored 12 points. Also for Effingham: Jared Minor four, and Sean Zerrusen and Jacob Donaldson two each.

Mt. Vernon's sensational junior Braden Fitzjerrells scored 28 points including seven three-points. Five of those came in the first half to keep the Rams out of reach. Shauntez Taylor scored 15 points and Gilwan Nelson scored 14 points.

Effingham closes out its campaign at 20-8, with four of those losses to Mt. Vernon. The Hearts say goodbye to seniors Kevin Daugherty, Frankie Kasdorf, Michael Carie and Braydon Bone.

Meanwhile, Mt. Vernon will take on Centralia for the regional championship Friday at 7pm at EHS. Centralia won the opener Tuesday, downing Olney 45-35.

Class 3A Effingham Regional

MOUNT VERNON (71)

Reeves 1-2 -- 5, Nelson 4-6 -- 14, Fitzjerrells 9-3 -- 28, Joy 0-0 -- 0, Hunter 1-0 -- 2, Taylor 5-5 -- 15, Wilson 3-1 -- 7, Beck 0-0 -- 0, Kujawa 0-0 -- 0, Ruff 0-0 -- 0, Uhls 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 23 FG, 17 FT.

EFFINGHAM (54)

Bone 5-6 -- 17, Schafer 0-0 -- 0, Zerrusen 0-2 -- 2, Wolfe 7-2 -- 17, Carie 4-4 -- 12, Minor 2-0 -- 4, Donaldson 1-0 -- 2, Woltman 0-0 -- 0, Kasdorf 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 19 FG, 14 FT.

Mount Vernon           21    16    10    24    --    71

Effingham                  17      8    10    19    --    54

3-point FG -- Mount Vernon 8 (Reeves 1, Fitzjerrells 7), Effingham 2 (Bone 1, Wolfe 1)

Here are the scores from Tuesday night:

Class 1A Effingham St. Anthony Sectional

Nokomis 60, Red Hill (Bridgeport) 36

Class 2A Benton Sectional

Carterville 69, Fairfield 57

Class 3A Effingham Regional

Centralia 45, Olney 35

Mt. Vernon 71, Effingham 54