Lady Hearts Win Championship at Round Robin w/Win Over Dieterich; St. Anthony Downs Neoga

The Effingham Lady Hearts won their third tournament championship of the season Thursday night, defeating the Dieterich Lady Maroons 54-35 to sweep their opponents in the 12th Annual Effingham Round Robin.  In the other contest, St. Anthony defeated Neoga 34-25.  Both games were heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.  

Effingham finished 4-0 in the tournament with wins over Neoga, St. Anthony, Centralia and Dieterich.

The Lady Hearts took a 7-0 lead but Dieterich fought back and were within two at 16-14 after the first quarter.  Dieterich tied the game at 16-16 to start the second quarter, but the Hearts started to use their deep bench to take their toll on the Maroons.  Effingham outscored Dieterich 17-7 in the period to take a 33-21 lead at halftime and outpointed the Maroons 12-6 in the third quarter to move ahead 45-27.  Effingham posted a 9-8 edge in the fourth quarter.

Effingham shot 45% from the field on 19 of 42 shooting.  They made 14 of 17 from the line, committed 15 turnovers and pulled down 27 rebounds while making two of eight three-point shots.

Dieterich made 16 of 48 shots for 33%, while making two of five foul shots, turning the ball over 19 times and grabbing 21 rebounds while making one of seven three-point shots.

Josie Zerrusen led Effingham with 15 points on six-of-nine shooting.  Caitlin Kaufman scored 12 points, all in the first half, and Stephanie Robb scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.  Kelli Utz scored eight points, Lauren Stephenson three, Jantzen Michael, Felicia Totten and Morgan Weiser two each, and Maddy Field one.

Candice Niemerg had another strong performance for Dieterich with 15 points and 15 rebounds.  Also for Dieterich: Mallorie Vahling eight, Katilyn Meinhart and Taylor Wright four each, and Sydney Higgs and Courtney Flach two each.

Effingham is 19-3 on the season.  Dieterich is now 14-7.

(THE EFFINGHAM LADY HEARTS ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE 2013 EFFINGHAM GIRLS ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENT.  SITTING LEFT TO RIGHT ARE MORGAN WILSON, MORGAN WEISER, KELLI UTZ, TAYLOR WILLIS, JANTZEL MICHAEL AND FELICIA TOTTEN...AND STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT ARE ASST. COACH JILL KISTNER, HEAD COACH JEFF SCHAFER, LAUREN STEPHENSON, JOSIE ZERRUSEN, MADDY FIELD, BRITTANY BEALS, CAITLIN KAUFMAN, ASST. COACH AARON WITGES AND ASST. COACH TROY VanBLARICUM)

St. Anthony 34, Neoga 25

This could've been a great game if the teams had shot the ball better; as it was, it was a close contest.

St. Anthony led 6-2 after one quarter, 20-8 at halftime, and 22-12 after three periods.  The Lady Bulldogs shot 24% from the field making 11 of 46, while Neoga shot 22% on 11 of 49 shooting.  St. Anthony made 11 of 20 foul shots, committed 12 turnovers and grabbed 37 rebounds while making one of seven three-point tries.  Neoga made two of six foul shots, turned the ball over 10 times and pulled down 27 rebounds while making just one of 11 three-point attempts.

Kate Richards led St. Anthony with 10 points and six rebounds.  Megan Nuxoll had eight points and seven boards while Makayla Walsh also scored seven points.  Also for St. Anthony: Melissa Bushur four points, Lexie Niebrugge three points and Morgan Gardewine two points.

For Neoga, Jillian Deters scored 10 points with eight rebounds.  Madison Butler scored eight points, E.C. Thies five and Kristin Deters two.

St. Anthony improved to 13-9 on the season and 1-2 in the tournament with a game against Dieterich Friday night.  Neoga is 6-16 and 0-3 in the tournament with a contest against Centralia Friday night.

Here's the Friday night schedule at EHS: 6:15 p.m.--Dieterich vs. St. Anthony...7:45 p.m.--Neoga vs. Centralia.

Effingham Invitational

Game Seven

ST. ANTHONY (34)

Gardewine 1-0 -- 2, Niebrugge 1-1 -- 3, Bushur 1-2 -- 4, Wendt 0-0 -- 0, Mumm 0-0 -- 0, Nuxoll 1-5 -- 7, Richards 4-2 -- 11, Walsh 3-1 -- 7, H. Niebrugge 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 11 FG, 11 FT.

NEOGA (25)

Butler 4-0 -- 8, Ott 0-0 -- 0, Thies 2-0 -- 5, J. Deters 4-2 -- 10, K. Deters 1-0 -- 2, Erickson 0-0 -- 0, Roderick 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 11 FG, 2 FT.

St. Anthony         6    14    2    12    --    34

Neoga                  2      6    4    13    --    25

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 1 (Richards 1), Neoga 1 (Thies 1).

Game Eight

EFFINGHAM (54)

Utz 2-4 -- 8, Michael 1-0 -- 2, Weiser 1-0 -- 2, Totten 1-0 -- 2, Stevenson 1-1 -- 3, Kaufman 4-2 -- 12, Robb 2-3 -- 9, Zerrusen 6-3 -- 15, Field 0-1 -- 1, Willis 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 19 FG, 14 FT.

DIETERICH (35)

Flach 1-0 -- 2, Higgs 1-0 -- 2, Niemerg 7-1 -- 15, Meinhart 1-1 -- 4, Vahling 4-0 -- 8, Wright 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 16 FG, 2 FT.

Effingham          16    17    12    9    --    54

Dieterich            14     7      6     8    --    35

3-point FG -- Effingham 2 (Kaufman 2), Dieterich 1 (Meinhart 1).