Lady Hearts Win at Paris, 53-39

The Effingham Lady Hearts rode a 21-6 third quarter margin to a 53-39 win over the Paris Lady Tigers Thursday night.  The game at Paris was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.

A fast-paced first quarter saw Effingham end the period with a 15-12 lead.  The offenses bogged down in the second quarter with Paris outscoring the Lady Hearts 9-7 to close within one point, 22-21 at halftime.

Then came the third quarter.  Josie Zerrusen scored the first eight points of the quarter before Caitlin Kaufman and Kelli Utz started to chip in.  The Hearts pushed the lead to 18 in the period before finishing the quarter leading 43-27.  Paris outscored the Lady Hearts 12-10 in the fourth quarter to account for the 14-point final.

Effingham made 22 of 48 shots for 46% and made two of just three foul shots.  Effingham turned the ball over a whopping 21 times and grabbed 20 rebounds while making seven of 15 three-point shots. 

Paris had 18 of 45 shots for 40%, made two of just foul shots, committed 25 turnovers while grabbing 28 rebounds, and made just one of six three-point tries.

Josie Zerrusen paced the Effingham attack with 22 points.  Caitlin Kaufman added 13 points and Kelli Utz scored 12 points.  Stephanie Robb scored the other six Effingham points.

Effingham improved to 7-3 on the season, 4-0 in the Apollo Conference.

Effingham won the JV game 32-26.  Felicia Totten led the way for the JV Hearts with 12 points while Morgan Wilson scored seven points and Lauren Stephenson five points.  The Hearts JV squad is now 5-1 on the season.

At Paris

EFFINGHAM (53)

Utz 5-6 2-3 -- 12, Michael 0-5 0-0 -- 0, Stephenson 0-1 0-0 -- 0, Zerrusen 9-17 0-0 -- 22, Field 0-0 0-0 -- 0, Kaufman 5-13 0-0 -- 13, Totten 0-2 0-0 -- 0, Robb 3-6 0-0 -- 6, Weiser 0-0 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 22-50 FG, 2-3 FT.

PARIS (39)

Sinclair 2-7 0-0 -- 4, Hopper 3-7 0-0 -- 6, Rios 1-5 0-0 -- 3, N. Tyler 1-4 0-0 -- 2, Temples 3-8 1-2 -- 7, B. Tyler 1-4 0-0 -- 2, Hoffman 5-7 1-2 -- 11, Keller 0-1 0-0 -- 0, Gladding -- 2-2 0-0 -- 4. TOTALS 18-45 FG, 2-4 FT.

Effingham          15    7    21    10    --    53

Paris                  12    9      6    12    --    39

3-point FG -- Effingham 6 (Zerrusen 4, Kaufman 2), Paris 1 (Rios 1). Rebounds -- Effingham 19 (Kaufman 6, Zerrusen 5), Paris 28 (Hoffman 5, Hopper 4, Rios 4, Temples 4, Tyler 4). Turnovers -- Effingham 21, Paris 25. Total fouls -- Effingham 20, Paris 28.