Hearts Claim Third Place at St. Anthony Turkey Tourney; Bulldogs Lose Fifth Place Contest

Members of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving All-Tournament Team.

The Effingham Hearts posted a 59-49 win over the Breese Central Cougars Saturday to claim third place honors at the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament and post a 3-1 record in the tourney in the process.

Meanwhile, the St. Anthony Bulldogs lost the fifth place contest 61-39 to the Mt. Zion Braves to finish 1-3 for the tournament.

Both games were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Other than one one-point advantage for the Cougars, Effingham led its game start-to-finish, but could never completely shake a young, but talented Central team.

The Hearts led 14-12 after one quarter and led 24-19 at halftime.  Effingham extended the lead to 38-29 after three quarters and then outscored Central 21-20 in the fourth period to post the 10-point victory.  The Hearts had as much as a 13-point edge in the contest.

Effingham shot 46% from the field, making 18 of 39 shots and made 21 of 27 foul shots.  The Hearts turned the ball over 12 times and grabbed 26 rebounds while making two of four three-point tries. 

Breese Central made 15 of 43 shots for 35% but hit on 18 of 23 foul shots and committed just eight turnovers.  Central grabbed just 16 rebounds, though, and made just one of 15 three-point attempts.

(MATT WOHLTMAN)

Senior Matt Wohltman stepped up big for Effingham, scoring 20 points after totaling just six points in the first three games of the tournament.  Wohltman hit seven of 12 from the field and six of eight from the line, pulling down six rebounds.  Junior Kevin Daugherty was a big lift off the bench, scoring 16 points including 11 in the fourth quarter, making four of seven shots on the night and hitting eight of 10 foul shots while grabbing five rebounds.

(KEVIN DAUGHERTY)

Also for Effingham: Kennan Mahaffey eight, Leighton Lark eight, Isaac Foreman four, Braydon Bone two, and Phil Knight one.

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Meanwhile in the fifth place contest, St. Anthony had the early lead but Mt. Zion's pressing defense eventually took its toll.

The Bulldogs led 9-6 after one quarter as Mt. Zion was plagued by three-for-13 shooting in the first period.  However, the Braves put the clamps on St. Anthony from that point and outscored the Bulldogs 43-20 in the middle two quarters of the contest to pull ahead 49-29 after three periods. Mt. Zion at one point had a 26-point lead before settling for the 22-point victory.

Mt. Zion shot 51% from the field, making 23 of 45 including 17 of 26 over the middle two quarters.

St. Anthony made 14 of 37 shots for 38%, made just nine of 17 foul shots, turned the ball over a whopping 25 times and pulled down 25 rebounds while making two of five three-point tries.

While Mt. Zion had three players in double figures, John Goeckner led St. Anthony with eight points. Also for St. Anthony: Neil Williams six, Andrew Gardewine six, Matt Gibson five, Zach Gardewine four, Eric Gurtner four, Frank Jansen three, and Alex Hoelscher three.

(JOHN GOECKNER)

Robinson won the seventh place game over Charleston, 53-37.

Belleville Althoff Catholic defeated Mattoon, 67-57, for the tournament championship.

Neil Williams and Alex Hoelscher of St. Anthony and Leighton Lark of Effingham made the All-Tournament Team.