Junior High Boys Basketball -- January 17

GREENVILLE -- Effingham Junior High School's eighth-grade squad will be competing for the 6th Annual James Burke Memorial Basketball Tournament title after picking up a victory Thursday evening.

The Mustangs defeated Aviston 66-44 to advance to the title game tonight against Troy Triad at 7:30 p.m.

Effingham held a 32-27 halftime lead then went on a 26-11 third period run. Effingham hit 73 percent from the field and 40 percent at the line. The Mustangs were led by Donaldson with 23 points, Wolfe with 20 and Beals with 19. Wolfe had four steals and four rebounds while Donaldson had three rebounds. Effingham is now 18-1 on the season.

In other games tonight, Salem squares off against Hillsboro for the consolation championship at 5:30 p.m. and Aviston takes on Carlyle at 6:30 for third place.

James Burke Memorial Tournament

Game Seven

Effingham          17    15    26    8    --    66

Aviston              14    13    11    6    --    44

Effingham -- Wolfe 20, Donaldson 23, Bealas 19,  Osborn 2, C. Hull 2

Aviston -- Truong 6, Hasselhorst 9, Schuetz 8, Robben 2, Spears 9, Rakers 6, Perkes 3 (players add up to 43 while 44 listed as final on scoresheet turned in)

National Trail Conference Tournament

Altamont captured the championship of the National Trail Conference Eighth-Grade Boys Basketball Tournament Thursday evening.

Altamont downed St. Elmo/Brownstown 51-35. The winners held a 33-20 halftime lead and never looked back. Armstrong tallied 20 and Shepard 12 for the winners. St. Elmo/Brownstown was led by Feezel with 15.

In the third place game, Cowden-Herrick defeated Beecher City 48-21. Cowden-Herrick held a 30-10 halftime lead and a 41-16 lead going into the final quarter.

The winners were led by Nohren with 13 and Sandiford with 11. Beecher City was led by Grove with 10.

In the consolation championship, Effingham Sacred Heart defeated Stewardson-Strasburg 33-23. With a slight one-point lead at halftime, the Shamrocks outscored Stew-Stras 8-3 in the third quarter and 8-4 in the final period.

Schafer tallied 13 for the winners. Nichols led Stew-Stras with 10.

National Trail Conference Tournament

Championship Game

Altamont         13    7    18    13    --    51

St. Elmo            9    2    12    12    --    35

Altamont -- Armstrong 20, Stone 7, Shepard 12, Finn 5, Cornett 5, D. Miller 2

St. Elmo -- Kroll 6, Miller 3, Kelly 2, Austin 7, Powell 2, Feezel 15

Third Place Game

Cowden-Herrick          14    16    11    7    --    48

Beecher City                  1      9      6    5    --    21

Cowden-Herrick -- Austin 2, Blackerby 9, Smith 6, Rauch 1, Sandiford 11, Nohren 13, Watson 2, Beck 2, Barfield 2

Beecher City -- Strauch 6, Stewart 2, Buzzard 2, Grove 10, Duckwitz 1

Consolation Championship

Sacred Heart          9     8    8    8    --    33

Stew-Stras            6    10    3    4    --    23

Sacred Heart -- Schafer 13, J. Bushue 1, Smith 4, Tegeler 9, Pruemer 6

Stew-Stras -- Jesgarz 2, Nichols 10, Moschenrose 4, Overbeck 7

At Effingham

Effingham and Teutopolis split in an A and B seventh-grade games contested Thursday night. Effingham captured the A game with a thrilling 44-43 win. Effingham had built a five point lead at half time 19-14, but Teutopolis came storming back to cut the lead to 30-28 after three quarters. Then Teutopolis actually a had a five-point lead in the closing seconds of the game.

However Effingham never quit fighting. Brett Koester made a three with five seconds remaining. After a timeout the Mustangs stole the inbounds pass and Ryan Sandifer was able to make a shot and was fouled with one second remaining. So after a couple of timeouts to freeze the shooter, Sandifer calmly made the free throw to secure the victory. Sandifer led the Mustangs with 18 and Adam Levitt with 10.

Teutopolis was led by Jansen with 12 and Funneman with 10. Effingham finishes the regular season with a 13-4 record and will return to action Monday in regional play at Charleston against the winner of the Urbana and Mattoon contest being played Saturday.

In the B game Teutopolis secured a 30-24 victory. Effingham had a slim 14-12 halftime lead. T-town outscored Effingham in the second half by eight to claim the six-point victory. Teutopolis was led in scoring by Addis and Young with six points each. Effingham was led by Terrence Hill with nine. Effingham B team finished the season with a 1-1 record.

A Game

Teutopolis          8      6     14    15    --    43

Effingham          8     11    11    14    --    44

Teutopolis -- Funneman 10, Kremer 8, Hardiek 2, Jansen 12, Deters 3, Dust 8

Effingham --  Ryan Sandifier 18, Mason Hull 7, Adam Levitt 10, Noah Spencer 4, Jason Devore 2, Brett Koester 3

B Game

Teutopolis            8      4      10    8    --    30

Effingham            8      6        6     4    --    24

Teutopolis -- Siebert 2, Probst 2, Koester 2, Addis 6, Young 6, Thoele 2, Schlink 5, Kowalski 1, Buenker 4

Effingham -- Maroon 4, Hill 9, Br. Lohman 2, Bl. Lohman 1, Koester 2, Mulheron 4, Kiethl 2

At Sigel

Sigel St. Michael handed Olney St. Joseph two losses. St. Michael won the seventh-grade game 42-26. Collin Kreke tallied 15, Asa Hanson 12 and Jordan Schumacher 11 for the winners.

In eighth-grade action, St. Michael won 49-20. Dalton Walk scored 16 and Brock Bueker 12 for the Sharpshooters.

At Sigel

Seventh-Grade Game

St. Joe                   6      8      2    10    --    26

St. Michael          12    12    14      4    --    42

Olney St. Joe -- Mitchell 8, Stallard 2, Zuber 2, Doll 8, Hatten 4, Bookout 2

Sigel St. Michael -- Kreke 15, Hanson 12, Schumacher 11, Wolke 4

Eighth-Grade Game

St. Joe                   3      2      7    8    --    20

St. Michael          19    12    16    2    --    49

Olney  St. Joe -- Amos 6, Kocher 3, Michels 2, Zuber 4, Stallard 2, Mitchell 1, Hatten 1 (players add up to 19 while 20 listed as final on scoresheet turned in)

Sigel  St. Michael -- Bra. Bueker 8, Bro. Bueker 12, Walk 16, McWhorter 4, Fearday 2, Wolke 7