EHS Girls Take Second at Charleston

CHARLESTON -- Effingham High School finished second at the 25th Annual Charleston Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament Saturday.

The Hearts defeated Danville 61-43 to reach the title contest.

The Hearts took off to a 17-9 opening quarter lead on Danville and pushed that to 29-16 at halftime. Danville came back with a slight 15-14 third quarter but the Hearts got back on track with an 18-12 final period.

Carsyn Fearday tallied 14 points for the Hearts. There were four players on the verge of double figures with nine points each and those included Aly Armstrong, Miranda Fox, Abby Weis and Shelby Myers. Armstrong hit three trifectas in the contest while Weis had two and Fox one.

EHS then moved into the championship game against Charleston but this time around the Trojans were ready and took a 67-57 victory.

Charleston took off to a 17-7 opening quarter lead and led 34-21 at halftime. The Hearts had a 17-12 third quarter but Charleston settled for a 21-15 final period.

"Tonight we ran into a buzzsaw," said EHS Coach Jeff Schafer. "Charleston jumped out 9-0 and made everything. We did a good job of weathering the storm. We got down by as many as 20 but cut it to two late in the game.

"We had some looks to tie it and then they made a few plays and we didn't and that was it. We had a good tournament and we will use this to get better. Congrats to Charleston. They played really well."

The Hearts were led by Fearday with 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Myers added 13 points and six boards while Fox had 10 points and five rebounds. Weis finished with nine on three trifectas.

EHS is now 14-1 on the season and returns to action thursday against Lincoln.

Charleston was led by Littleford with 26 points. She hit three trifectas and was three of four at the line. Swango nailed six three-pointers and was one of two at the line for 19 points. Griffin chipped in with 11.

Charleston Holiday Tournament

Game 17

EFFINGHAM (61)

Fearday 5-2 -- 14, Schafer 2-0 -- 4, Carie 1-4 -- 6, Armstrong 3-0 -- 9, Fox 3-2 -- 9, Weis 3-1 -- 9, Barr 0-1 -- 1, Myers 3-3 -- 9. TOTALS 20 FG, 13 FT.

DANVILLE (43)

Houpt 2-0 -- 6, Payne 3-1 -- 7, Parker 0-1 -- 1, Woods 1-1 -- 3, Gray 1-0 -- 2, Hall 9-3 -- 24. TOTALS 16 FG, 6 FT.

Effingham             17    12    14    18    --    61

Danville                  9      7    15    12    --    43

3-point FG -- Effingham 8 (Armstrong 3, Weis 2, Fearday 2), Fox 1), Danville 5 (Hall 3, Houpt 2).

Championship Game

EFFINGHAM (57)

Fearday 9-3 -- 23, Schafer 1-0 -- 2, Carie 0-0 -- 0, Armstrong 0-0 -- 0, Fox 3-3 -- 10, Weis 4-0 -- 9, Barr 0-0 -- 0, Myers 6-1 -- 13. TOTALS 23 FG, 7 FT.

CHARLESTON (67)

Swango 6-1 -- 19, Bollant 1-0 -- 3, Littleford 10-3 -- 26, Griffin 2-7 -- 11, Coffey 1-0 -- 2, Buescher 0-1 -- 1, Jackson 2-0 -- 5. TOTALS 22 FG, 12 FT.

Effingham              7    14    17    19    --    57

Charleston           17    17    12    21    --    67

3-point FG -- Effingham 4 (Fearday 2, Fox 1, Weis 1), Charleston 11 (Swango 6, Littleford 3, Bollant 1, Jackson 1).