EHS Claims Apollo Title; Area Girls Roundup

Just call them the Apollo Conference champions! Effingham High School downed Salem 42-35 in girls basketball competition Thursday evening to finish undefeated in the conference at 10-0.

The Hearts have now won 20 straight games and pushed their record to 24-3 on the season.

"This was a great win for us tonight," said EHS Coach Jeff Schafer. "We had a great crowd, didn't play our best basketball, but gutted out a win that gave us the Apollo Conference championship at 10-0.

"We tied the school record for wins with 24. I can't say enough about these kids and how they refocused after our first two games of the year. They have worked really hard to get where they are."

EHS jumped out to a 10-3 opening quarter lead and led 21-13 at halftime. Salem came back with a 14-10 third period run to pull within 31-27 going into the final period. EHS then got tough and had an 11-8 final period edge.

Caitlin Kaufman tallied 12 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Hearts. Josie Zerrusen had nine points while Kelli Utz added eight points. Stephanie Robb led in rebounds with six.

The Hearts finish out regular season play hosting Taylorville during Senior Night festivities Tuesday. A recognition ceremony will take place between the junior varsity and varsity contests at approximately 7:30 p.m.

At Effingham

SALEM (35)

Sh. Holst 1-0 -- 2, M. Hood 1-0 -- 2, Hawkins 5-1 -- 11, Cook 1-0 -- 2, Beer 2-0 -- 4, Tucker 6-0 -- 12, Henson 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 17 FG, 1 FT.

EFFINGHAM (42)

Utz 1-6 -- 8, Beals 0-0 -- 0, Michael 0-0 -- 0, Totten 1-1 -- 3,  Stephenson 3-0 -- 6, Kaufman 4-0 -- 12, Robb 2-0 -- 4, Zerrusen 2-4 -- 9. TOTALS 13  FG, 11 FT.

Salem                  3    10    14      8    --    35

Effingham          10    11    10    11    --    42

3-point FG -- Salem 0, Effingham 5 (Kaufman 4, Zerrusen 1).

Junior Varsity Game

Salem 30, Effingham 25

Salem -- Sy. Holst 5, M. Hood 5, Baer 3, Beer 2, Sagen 4, Watson 9, A. Hood 2

Effingham -- Wilson 2, Beals 4, Stephenson 2, Steffen 6, Field 5, Crowell 2, Nunamaker 4

At Neoga

Neoga picked up a National Trail Conference victory over Dieterich, 56-46.

The Indians edged out to a 14-13 opening quarter lead and led by that same margin, 28-27 at halftime. Neoga still held a one point lead going into the final quarter 37-36. Neoga then took off on a 19-10 final period run to pull away.

Jillian Deters tallied 20 points and Madison Butler 14 for Neoga. Dieterich was led by Candace  Niemerg with 22 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and four steals. Mallorie Vahling had eight rebounds. The Maroons drop to 4-1 in the conference, 16-10 overall.

Dieterich is back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. hosting Cowden-Herrick.

At Neoga

DIETERICH (46)

Flach 1-0 -- 2, Higgs 2-0 -- 6, Niemerg 8-11 -- 22, Meinhart 2-0 -- 6, Vahling 3-0 -- 6, Wright 1-2 -- 4. TOTALS 17 FG, 8 FT.

NEOGA (56)

Butler 5-3 -- 14, Ott 2-0 -- 4, Thies 3-1 -- 9, J. Deters 8-3 -- 20, K. Deters 2-2 -- 7, Roderick 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 21 FG, 9 FT.

Dieterich          13    14    9    10    --    46

Neoga              14    14    9    19    --    56

3-point FG -- Dieterich 4 (Higgs 2, Meinhart 2), Neoga 5 (Thies 2, J. Deters 1, K. Deters 1).

At Altamont

Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran came calling at Altamont and handed the host Indians a 47-36 loss.

Altamont took a 13-10 opening quarter lead but Christ Our Rock tied the score at halftime 21-21. Christ Our Rock had a 13-8 edge in the third period and outdistanced Altamont 34-29 going into the final period then had a 13-7 run.

Christ Our Rock Lutheran had three players in double digits. Geiger tallied 19, Lyons 13 and Maschhoff 11.

Altamont was led by Lauren Ohnesorge with 13 points.

At Altamont

CHRIST OUR ROCK LUTHERAN (47)

Maschhoff 3-4 -- 11, Lyons 5-0 -- 13, Lape 0-0 -- 0, Fuehne 0-0 -- 0, Goodin 2-0 -- 4, Geiger 6-7 -- 19, Rueter 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 16 FG, 11 FT.

ALTAMONT (36)

M. Ohnesorge 2-1 -- 6, L. Ohnesorge 4-5 -- 13, Laatsch 0-0 -- 0, Vaughn 1-0 -- 2, Stevenson 3-0 -- 7, Tillman 2-0 -- 4, Wendling 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 14 FG, 6 FT.

Christ Our Rock Lutheran           10    11    13    13    --    47

Altamont                                     13      8      8      7    --    36

3-point FG -- Christ Our Rock Lutheran 4 (Maschhoff 1, Lyons 3), Altamont 2 (M. Ohnesorge 1, Stevenson 1).

Junior Varsity Game

Christ Our Rock Lutheran          5    9    10    3    --    27

Altamont                                  10    9      6    7    --    32

Christ Our Rock Lutheran -- Ruckman 3, Maschhoff 4, Lape 8, Brinkmann 3, Goodin 4, Haake 3, Rueter 2, Edler 0, Deboard 0

Altamont -- Miller 2, M. Ohnesorge 0, L. Ohnesorge 4, Laatsch 8, Vaughn 7, Stevenson 2, Smith 5, Stuckemeyer 0, Voelker 2, Tillman 0, Wendling 2, Hanna 0, Armstrong 0

At Toledo

Newton easily downed Cumberland 63-38 in Little Illini Conference action. The Eagles led 35-27 at halftime then had a 20-9 third period run.

Morgan Swingler tallied 16 for the winners while Megan Jansen scored 15, Carly Niebrugge 13 and Tara Wirth 13. Niebrugge pulled down seven rebounds. Swingler and Wirth had three steals each. The Eagles are now 9-2 in the conference, 19-8 overall.

"The girls came through with a solid effort on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor," said Coach Brad Harris. "We hit the big shots when we needed to. This was a nice ending to our regular season. Now is the time for the girls to step up for the regionals. It is a whole new season now."

At Toledo

NEWTON (63)

Swingler 7-1 -- 16, Jansen 6-3 -- 15, Niebrugge 5-1 -- 13, Wirth 4-5 -- 13, Koebele 1-1 -- 3, Will 1-0 -- 2, Probst 0-1 -- 1. TOTALS 24 FG, 12  FT.

CUMBERLAND (38)

Holsapple 2-14 -- 19, Willenborg 2-2 -- 6, Siebert 2-1 -- 5, Shull 2-0 -- 4, Poe 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 10 FG, 17 FT.

Newton                 16    19    20    8    --    63

Cumberland          10    12      9    7    --    38

3-point FG -- Newton 3 (Swingler 1, Niebrugge 2), Cumberland 1 (Holsapple 1)

Junior Varsity Game

Newton                 16    10    10    0    --    36

Cumberland            2    10      2    4    --    18

Newton -- Kerner 11, Koebele 8, Will 8, Michl 4, Ma. Probst 3, Me. Probst 2

Cumberland -- Poe 9, Paul 5, Willenborg 4

At Wayne City

Wayne City bounced South Central 61-28. Wayne City stepped out to a 20-5 opening quarter lead and never looked back.

Clark tallied 12, Alvis 10 and Spicer 10 for the winners. South Central was led by Macie Cain with 18.

At Wayne City

SOUTH CENTRAL (28)

King 0-0 -- 0, Rose 1-0 -- 2, Lotz 1-0 -- 2, Lewis 0-0 -- 0, Keen 3-0 -- 6, Ritter 0-0 --0, Cain 6-4 -- 18, Price 0-0 --0. TOTALS 11 FG, 4 FT.

WAYNE CITY (61)

Green 3-0 -- 6, Alvins 5-0 -- 10, Clark 6-0 -- 12, Spicer 4-2 -- 10, Slover 1-2 -- 4, Pasley 2-0 -- 4, Smith 3-2 -- 9, Schumm 1-0 -- 2, Dagg 0-0 -- 0, Greogry 1-0 -- 2, Schnohr 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 27 FG, 6 FT.

South Central            5      4      6    13    --    28

Wayne City              20    16    10    15    --    61

3-pointers -- South Central 2 (Cain 2), Wayne City 1 (Smith 1).