Hearts in Championship Game at St. Anthony Tournament; Bulldogs Lose to St. Thomas More

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Published on November 25 2015 11:16 pm
Last Updated on November 25 2015 11:16 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham Hearts have clinched a berth in the championship game of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament with a 70-29 win Wednesday night over Clifton Central.

Meanwhile, the St. Anthony Bulldog fell to Champaign St. Thomas More 76-62 and will play in the seventh place game.

Both games were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.

Effingham played a stellar game, shooting 63% from the field and committing just five turnovers. 

The Hearts hit 12 of 19 shots in the first quarter to take a 24-4 lead and extended the lead to 30-4 early in the second period. The lead was 45-14 at halftime and 60-26 after three quarters before Effingham outscored the Comets 10-3 in the final quarter to post the 41-point victory.

Effingham made 32 of 51 shots including four of eight from three-point range. The Hearts made two of five free throws and grabbed 19 rebounds.

Clifton Central made nine of 25 shots for 36%, made 10 of 14 foul shots and committed 21 turnovers while pulling down 15 rebounds.

Hearts Coach Ron Reed got scoring from 12 different players. Grant Wolfe led the attack with 16 points, while Sean Zerrusen and Brady Jackson each scored 10 points. The Hearts got six points each from Jacob Donaldson, Landon Wolfe and Alex Webb, four points from Jared Minor and Brent Beals, and two points each from Reed Schafer, Michael Woltman, David Wallace and Ryan Huelsbusch.

Zach Washington led Clifton Central with 11 points.

In the other contest, St. Anthony upped its offensive output noticeably from Monday night's opener, but couldn't find a way to stop St. Thomas More. The Sabres led throughout the game, but could never pull clear of the Bulldogs. It was 11-8 St. Thomas More after one quarter, 23-21 at halftime, and 54-45 after three quarters before the Sabres outscored the Bulldogs 22-17 in the final quarter.

St. Thomas More made 60% of its shots, 30 of 50, including four of 11 three-pointers. St. Anthony made 19 of 48 shots for 40% including six of 15 three-pointers. The Bulldogs made 18 of 22 foul shots, but turned the ball over 21 times, 14 of those in the second half. They grabbed 26 rebounds.

Junior Drew Gibson stepped up big for the Bulldogs, scoring 22 points on eight of 14 shooting from the field and four of four from the line. Sophomore Cade Walsh came off the bench to score 14 points, hitting three threes in three tries and making five of five foul shots. Nick Grunloh scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Also for the Bulldogs: Kyle Hartke 9, James Kabbes 4, Adam Levitt and Alex Beesley 2 each, and Chandler Martelli 1.

In the other Wednesday game, Breese Central defeated Mattoon 50-33.

That means Breese Central wins its pool and Effingham wins its pool, so they will play Saturday at 7:30pm for the tournament championship. St. Anthony and Robinson are both 0-2 so they will play for seventh place at 3pm Saturday. The 4:30pm and 6pm Saturday opponents will be decided in Friday's games.

Here's the Friday schedule:

3pm--Mt. Zion vs. Mattoon (the winner will play at 6pm Saturday, the loser will play at 4:30pm Saturday)

4:30pm--Clifton Central vs. St. Thomas More (the winner will play at 6pm Saturday, the loser will play at 4:30pm Saturday)

6pm--Breese Central vs. Robinson

7:30pm--St. Anthony vs Effingham

We'll have the Hearts vs Bulldogs game for you Friday at 7:30pm on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  Wayne will also be videotaping the game, so watch for it later in the weekend on the website.

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At the Bob Kerans Girls Tournament at Newton Wednesday, the Effingham Lady Hearts improved to 3-1 on the season and 2-1 in the tournament with a 53-40 victory over host Newton.

Effingham Coach Jeff Schafer had noticed Newton had gotten off to fast starts while Effingham had not, so that was a point of emphasis. The girls responded, leading Newton 10-5 after one quarter. The Hearts were up 22-15 at halftime and 36-26 after three quarters before outpointing Newton 17-14 in the final quarter.

Schafer mixed the lineup up a bit to try to get off to a good defensive start and it worked.

Freshman Carsyn Fearday again led Effingham in scoring with 16 points and sophomore Aly Armstrong added 12 points. Schafer said, "It was really nice to get Aly going tonight." Also for Effingham: Marranda Steffen 9, Miranda Fox 6, Sidney Webster and Shelby Myers 4 each, and Bria Barr 2.

Effingham will play their final game of the tournament on Friday at noon against Cumberland.

Also Wednesday night at Newton, Flora beat Altamont 50-24 in the opener and then beat Cumberland 48-15 in the final game.

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In 7th grade girls regional championship action, Teutopolis won their own 3A tournament, defeating Vandalia 36-24.