Hearts Beat Bulldogs to Gain Tourney Final

Before one of the largest crowds in memory at the Enlow Center, the Effingham Hearts prevailed over the St. Anthony Bulldogs 73-66 to reach the championship game of the 2016 St. Anthony Turkey Tournament. The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com 

Effingham will take on the Robinson Maroons for the tournament title at 7:30pm Saturday. St. Anthony will square off against the Breese Central Cougars in the third place game at 6pm. We will broadcast both games.

Behind some three-point prowess, the Bulldogs took a 9-1 lead on the Hearts, but Effingham pulled to within 14-10 by the end of the first quarter. The Hearts then outscored St. Anthony 18-11 in the second quarter to lead 28-25 at halftime. A 23-11 edge in the third quarter pushed Effingham's lead to 51-36 after three quarters, but the Bulldogs wouldn't go away.

St. Anthony poured in 30 fourth quarter points, while Effingham scored 22 of its own to account for the seven-point margin of victory.

Effingham shot 48% from the field, 23 of 48, including three of 17 threes. The Hearts made 24 of 28 free throws, committed just 11 turnovers, but also claimed just 17 rebounds.

St. Anthony made 25 of 53 shots for 47%, including seven of 15 threes. The Bulldogs made nine of 12 shots, committed 18 turnovers, but pulled down 25 rebounds.

Grant Wolfe led the way for Effingham, hitting 10 of 15 shots and making six of seven free throws for 26 points. Jacob Donaldson had his best game of the tournament, scoring 19 points and going five-for-five from the field in the second half including two threes. Landon Wolfe scored 14 points and led the Hearts with seven rebounds. Brent Beals scored 12 points to give the Hearts four players in double figures. Trevor Kreke scored the other two Effingham points.

Alex Deters paced the St. Anthony attack with 18 points including four threes, while Jack Nuxoll came off the bench to score 17 points. Drew Gibson scored 11 fourth quarter points and totaled 14 points for the contest. Also for St. Anthony: Alex Beesley 9 with 7 rebounds, Cade Walsh 4, and Adam Levitt 4.

Effingham improved to 3-0 on the season and in the tournament, while St. Anthony is now 2-1 in both categories.

The pairings are set for Saturday's finals at St. Anthony. Here's the schedule:

3pm--7th place game--Okaw Valley vs. Chicago Corliss...4:30pm--5th place game--St. Thomas More vs. Mattoon...6pm--3rd place game--St. Anthony vs. Breese Central...7:30pm--1st place game--Effingham vs. Robinson.

By the way, our C.J. Schmidt videotaped Friday night's game, including a wonderful job by both the EHS Chamber and the St. Anthony Bull Dawgs. The evening featured everything from Moses parting the "Red Sea" on the Effingham side to firefighters ready to put out the Flaming Hearts on the St. Anthony side. We will have video copies available next week.

Here are the Friday scores:

St. Anthony Boys Turkey Tournament

Mattoon 62, Chicago Corliss 58 FINAL

Champaign St. Thomas More 58, Okaw Valley 52 FINAL

Robinson 56, Breese Central 50 FINAL (OT)

Effingham 73, St. Anthony 66 FINAL