EHS Girls Pick Up Ninth Straight Victory

By DUSTIN WHITE

Effingham High School picked up its ninth straight girls basketball victory Wednesday evening, playing host to Olney (Richland County) and dispatching the Tigers by a 53-22 final in a game heard on KJ Country 102.3.

The Hearts limited Olney to 1-for-11 shooting in the first quarter, setting the tone defensively on the opening possession of the game as it took Olney well over a minute to finally find room to get off a shot. It was 15-4 in Effingham’s favor by the end of that initial stanza with Sidney Donaldson’s six points leading the way.

By halftime the contest was well in control as EHS extended its advantage to 31-9; Alyssa Martin tallied six of her game-high 11 points during the second quarter while Olivia Moser and Averie Wolfe scored two buckets apiece.

The third quarter was a bit tighter, but Effingham managed to get its lead up over 30 about midway through the fourth period and the running clock ended the game quickly from there.

Donaldson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds; she and Martin were the only players in double figures. Saige Althoff also grabbed eight boards to go with her six points. Bella Austin scored just three points but pulled down eight rebounds of her own and also handed out a game-high five assists. 

All told, Effingham outrebounded Olney 46-22. Bria Beals had seven of those boards to go with her five points. The Hearts got all 14 players dressed for the varsity game into the action and nine of them put points on the board.

EHS is 25-4 overall and plays its regular season finale Thursday at Mt. Zion; those teams will enter play tied for second in the Apollo Conference standings at 6-3. Taylorville has already won the league title with a perfect 10-0 mark; in the latest Associated Press Class 3A girls basketball poll, Effingham is ranked ninth, Mt. Zion is ranked 10th, and Taylorville received the most votes of any team outside the top ten.

The Hearts won the junior varsity game, 48-39 and are now 16-3 on the season. Tessa Raddatz scored 19 while Mya Harvey added 14.

At Effingham High School

OLNEY (22)

Ky. Weiler 3-6 1-2 -- 8, Ke. Weiler 1-13 1-2 -- 4, Bloomer 0-3 0-0 -- 0, Burgener 4-9 0-3 -- 8, Brown 1-6 0-0 -- 2, Gray 0-1 0-0 -- 0, Cline 0-0 0-0 -- 0, Bahl 0-0 0-0 -- 0, Nelson 0-2 0-0 -- 0, Seessengood 0-2 0-0 -- 0, Denton 0-1 0-0 --  0. TOTALS 9-43 FG 2-7 FT.

EFFINGHAM (53)

Martin 4-5 3-4 -- 11, Wolfe 3-9 0-0 -- 7, Althoff 3-7 0-0 -- 6, Donaldson 5-13 0-2 -- 10, Austin 1-3 0-2 -- 3, Beals 1-6 2-2 -- 5, Moser 2-3 2-2 -- 6, Raddatz 1-3 0-0 -- 3, Bierman 0-0 0-0 -- 0, Harvey 0-1 2-2 -- 2, Thompson 0-1 0-0 -- 0, Hecht 0-0 0-0 -- 0, Armstrong 0-2 0-0 -- 0, Love 0-0 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 20-53 FG 9-14 FT.

Olney                   4      5    11     2    --    22

Effingham          15    16    14    8    --    53

3-point FG — Effingham 4 (Wolfe 1, Austin 1, Beals 1, Raddatz 1), Olney 2 (Ky. Weiler 1, Ke. Weiler 1).

Junior Varsity Game

Olney                      7    12    12      8    --    39

Effingham            12    13    13    10    --    48

Olney -- Brown 7, Gray 3, Bahl 1, Hefferman 7, Cook 0, McLaren 3, Denton 0, Seessengood 15, Knox 3

Effingham -- Weis 0, Hayes 0, Raddatz 19, Wendling 2, Love 5, Engel 0, Hecht 0, Bierman 1, Feldhake 0, K. Armstrong 4, N. Armstrong 3, Thompson 0, Harvey 14