Lady Hearts Win 24th With Victory Over Mattoon

The Effingham Lady Hearts improved to 24-2 on the season with a 42-23 victory over the Mattoon Lady Green Wave. The Apollo Conference battle was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

The victory leaves the Lady Hearts with a 9-1 conference record with two games remaining. Those games are against the two toughest opponents in the league. Effingham plays at Charleston on Monday night and takes on Lincoln on Thursday night. Two wins and the Hearts are Apollo Conference champions.

Effingham didn't shoot the ball particularly well Thursday, but all other facets of their game was cooking, particularly their defense. The biggest point outpoint for Mattoon was nine in the first quarter. They scored four in the second quarter, eight in the third period, and just two in the final quarter.

The Lady Hearts extended the lead throughout the game, up 12-9 after one quarter, 21-13 at halftime, and 33-21 after three quarters before posting a 9-2 advantage in the final period.

Effingham made 41% of its shots, 16 of 39 including 2 of 13 threes. Effingham made 8 of 12 foul shots, turned the ball over 11 times, and pulled down 25 rebounds.

Mattoon made just 8 of 36 shots, 22%, including 1 of 13 threes. The Wave made just six of 12 free throws, grabbed 23 rebounds, and committed 18 turnovers.

Carsyn Fearday led the way for Effingham with 17 points. Also for the Lady Hearts: Shelby Myers and Abby Weis with six points each, Miranda Fox with four, Aly Armstrong with three, and Bria Barr, Skyler Schafer and Natalie Carie with two points apiece.

Ashlyn McDonald led Mattoon with eight points.

Effingham came from behind to win the JV game in overtime 41-35. Taylor Armstrong led Effingham with 14 points and Kiyah Kuhlman scored 12 points. Jessie Herboth and Madison Buscher each scored six points.

At Effingham

MATTOON (23)

Brown 0-0 -- 0, Niemerg 0-0 -- 0, Sanders 0-0 -- 0, Risinger 3-0 -- 6, Butler 0-0 -- 0, MacDonald 2-4 -- 8, Otto 0-0 -- 0, Coffey 1-2 -- 5, Arthur 2-0 -- 4, Sapp 0-0 -- 0, Gill 0-0 -- 0, Prior 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 8 FG, 6 FT.

EFFINGHAM (42)

Fearday 5-7 -- 17, Schafer 1-0 -- 2, Carie 1-0 -- 2, A. Armstrong 1-0 -- 3, Fox 2-0 -- 4, Weis 2-1 -- 6, Barr 1-0 -- 2, Myers 3-0 -- 6, Buscher 0-0 -- 0, Herboth 0-0 -- 0, Kuhlman 0-0 -- 0, Koester 0-0 -- 0, T. Armstrong 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 16 FG, 8 FT.

Mattoon                9    4      8    2    --    23

Effingham          12    9    12    9    --    42

3-point FG -- Mattoon 1 (Coffey 1), Effingham 2 (Weis 1, A. Armstrong 1).