Hearts Remain Unbeaten in Apollo

The Effingham Hearts remained undefeated in Apollo Conference play with a 50-46 win at Mattoon Friday night.

Mattoon led the contest 11-9 after the first quarter, but Effingham outscored the Green Wave 15-8 in the second quarter to lead 24-19 at halftime.  The Hearts outpointed Mattoon 13-9 in the third quarter to take a 37-28 lead.  Mattoon closed the gap with an 18-13 edge in the fourth quarter, but the Hearts held on for a four-point win.

Hunter Keith came up big for Effingham with 17 points, including 11 points in the fourth quarter.   Leighton Lark scored 12 points and Clark Williamson scored 10 points.  Keith, Lark and Williamson finished 12-of-12 at the foul line.  Also for Effingham: Josh Stombaugh six points, Alex Carie three points and Tim Gardewine two points.

Grant Speer and Travis Kittell each scored 13 points to lead Mattoon.

Effingham improved to 15-5 on the season with the win and now stands at 7-0 in the Apollo with games remaining against Mt. Zion, Paris and Salem.

Effingham won the JV game 61-40.  Isaac Foreman led the JV Hearts with 14 points and Marcus Robinson scored 12 points.  Also for the JV Hearts: Phil Knight nine, Matt Wohltman six, Carter Hayes, Kevin Daugherty and Bill Arndt four each, Kennan Mahaffey and Kyle Niebrugge three each, and Brayden Bone two points.