Hearts Win; Bulldogs Lose at St. Anthony Tourney

The Effingham Hearts posted a 65-57 win over the Charleston Trojans, while the St. Anthony Bulldogs suffered a 62-45 loss to the Belleville Althoff Crusaders Wednesday night at the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.  The games were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  In the other contest Wednesday at the Enlow Center, Robinson defeated Mt. Zion 68-59.

The Hearts led start-to-finish against a Charleston team that had scored 92 points against St. Anthony Monday night.  Effingham bounced back from a 39-point performance Tuesday night against Belleville Althoff.

Effingham led 18-11 after the first quarter, but saw that lead dwindle to four at 33-29 at halftime.  The Hearts posted a 15-12 edge in the third quarter to take a 48-41 edge and got the lead up to 10 points before settling for the eight-point win. 

Junior Leighton Lark paced the Hearts in scoring with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.  Clark Williamson earned a start after a nine-point performance Tuesday and made the most of it, scoring 14 points on seven-of-10 shooting and pulling down four boards.  Hunter Keith also played a good game, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds and distributing the ball well, recording a number of assists.  Junior Phil Knight also got a start for Effingham against the guard-oriented Charleston team and scored six points on three-of-three shooting.  Also for Effingham, Trenton Frey and Marcus Robinson each scored four points, Alex Carie hit a three-pointer, and Tim Gardewine got a bucket for two points.

The Hearts shot 54% from the field, making 29 of 54.  They hit five of nine foul shots, grabbed 28 rebounds, committed 13 turnovers, and made two of six three-point tries.

Charleston was paced by Ethan Miller with 16 points, while Zach Steidl scored 11 points, Truston Winnett 10 points, and Noah Miller nine points. 

The Trojans made 18 of 42 shots for 43%, made 17 of 22 foul shots, grabbed 25 rebounds, committed 10 turnovers and made four of 18 three-point shots.

Both teams are 1-1 in the tournament and on the season.

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Belleville Althoff shot an atrocious one-of-17 from the field in the first quarter and trailed the Bulldogs 9-5 at the end of the period.  The Crusaders got better in a hurry, though, making 11 of 17 shots in the second quarter and outscoring the Bulldogs 27-11 in the period to hold a 32-20 halftime lead.  It was 53-39 after three quarters.

Althoff made 23 of 58 shots overall for 40%.  They added 12 of 19 from the line, grabbed 33 rebounds, and committed nine turnovers, while making four of 13 three-point tries.  The Crusaders featured balanced scoring with Chaun Wells scoring 14 points, and Kevin Renner and Brendon Gooch adding 13 points apiece.

The Bulldogs made 17 of 41 shots for 41%.  They made just six of 14 foul shots, pulled down 23 rebounds and committed 14 turnovers while making two of eight three-point tries.

Jacob Schuette led the Bulldogs in scoring with 21 points, hitting nine of 19 shots.  Neil Williams added 11 points.

Belleville Althoff improved to 2-0 on the season and in the tourney, while the Bulldogs are now 0-2.

Four games are scheduled at the tournament on Friday.  The marquee game is the 7:30pm contest between Effingham and St. Anthony.  We'll have the game on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  Other Friday games are: 3pm--Mt. Zion vs. Mattoon...4:30pm--Charleston vs. Belleville Althoff...and 6pm--Breese Central vs. Robinson.