Hearts Battle to End Thursday, Fall to Charleston

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Published on December 17 2021 2:23 pm
Last Updated on December 20 2021 7:07 am
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham Hearts came so close Thursday night, but fell short at the end in an Apollo Conference boys game with Charleston. The Trojans downed the Hearts 55-45.

Effingham battled to a 13-12 lead after one quarter, and led 24-22 at halftime. The Hearts were still up 38-35 heading into the fourth quarter, but Charleston outscored Effingham 20-7 in the final period to post a 10-point win. Effingham hit just two shots from the field in the final quarter.

Hearts Coach Obie Farmer, whose club lost its fourth straight game after going 2-2 in the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament, said, "We are so close. Just a few minutes here and a couple of possessions there and we win by 10. We just can't keep people down."

The Hearts hit 16 of 34 shots from the field, including eight three-pointers. They were 5 of 8 at the line.

Jett Volpi for the second game in a row led Effingham in scoring, totaling 17 points. Effingham got a big lift from a 10-point performance from Dalton Fox. Also for the Hearts: Andrew Splechter 8, Brayden Pals 4, Garrett Wolfe 3, Armando Estrada 2, and Ethan Ritz 1.

Jacken Braun led Charleston with 20 points, while William Applegate added 12 points.

Charleston is 7-2 on the season, 4-0 in Apollo Conference play.

At Effingham

CHARLESTON (55)

Smitley 3-1 -- 9, Pankey 0-0 -- 0, Applegate 2-6 -- 12, Becker 0-0 -- 0, Rounds 0-0 -- 0, Braun 10-0 -- 20, Oakley 2-3 -- 7, Burgess 1-4 -- 7. TOTALS 18 FG, 14 FT.

EFFINGHAM (45)

Volpi 6-2 -- 17, Wolfe 1-0 -- 3, Ritz 0-1 -- 1, Estrada 1-0 -- 2, Splechter 3-1 -- 8, D. Fox 3-1 -- 10, Pals 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 16 FG, 5 FT.

Charleston            12    10    15    18    --    55

Effingham             13    11    14      7    --    45

3-point FG -- Charleston 5 (Smitley 2, Applegate 2, Burgess 1), Effingham 8 (Volpi 3, D. Fox 3, Wolfe 1, Splechter 1)