Effingham, Teutopolis Seventh Graders To Play For Third Place At State

Both Effingham and Teutopolis won their quarterfinal games but both fell in semifinal round action Saturday at the seventh grade state basketball tournaments.

At the 4A State Tournament at Normal, Effingham clobbered Bethalto Trimpe 44-12. The Mustangs started off fast, outscoring the Royals 19-2 after one quarter and held a 33-6 lead at halftime. Effingham was led in scoring by Carsyn Fearday who paced the Mustangs with 21 points.

In the semifinal game against Frankfort Summit Hill, the Spartans came out on top 27-21. Summit Hill outscored Effingham 5-1 in the third quarter to take a 16-14 lead into the final period. Carsyn Fearday nailed a three-pointer to give the Mustangs a 19-16 lead. Summit Hill then caught fire from that point on and came right back to take the lead and scored the final seven points.

Frankfort Summit Hill advances to the champoinship game against Canton Ingersoll Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Effingham faces Taylorville for third place at 6 p.m.

At the 3A State Tournament at Auburn, Teutopolis pounded Watseka 37-19 in its opening game. The Wooden Shoes got out to an early lead behind the shooting of Olivia Niemerg who had seven of her 15 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Emma Deters tossed in eight of her 14 points. The Wooden Shoes held the Utes to 10 points in the first half. T-town continued its pressure during the second half to take the win.

In the semifinal game, T-town took on the Cardinals of Pleasant Plains. The Cardinals stepped up their offensive attack in the second quarter and held a 12-4 halftime lead. The Shoes chipped away at the Cardinal lead throughout the second half and cut the lead to five with two minutes left in the game. Savannah Grimes hit a huge three late in the fourth quarter to cut the Cardinal lead to three ponts. But the Cardinals took care of the ball and time expired.

T-town was led by Grimes with 13 points. T-town will play Dunlap Valley MS for third place Thursday at 6 p.m. followed by Hillsboro against Pleasant Plains for the title at 7:30 p.m.

At Normal Parkside Junior High School

Quarterfinal Game

Effingham                     19    14    11    0    --    44

Bethalto Trimpe            2       6      2    2    --    12

Effingham -- Schafer 4, Fearday 21, Buscher 2, Weis 9, Fox 8

Bethalto Trimpe -- Klaustermeier 2, Goddard 2, Griffith 2, Emerick 2, Mays 2, Rothe 2

Semifinal Game

Effingham                                1    12    1      7    --    21

Frankfort Summit Hill          5      6    5    11    --    27

Effingham -- Schafer 1, Fearday 14, Buscher 2, Weis 2, Fox 2

Frankfort Summit Hill -- Nekola 12, Savic 7, Sheehan 8

At Auburn High School

Quarterfinal Game

Teutopolis          13    12    6    6    --    37

Watseka                2      8    4    5    --    19

Teutopolis -- Grimes 4, Frey 4, Niemerg 15, Deters 14

Watseka -- Harris 11, Drake 4, Bauer 2, Ketchum 2

Semifinal Game

Teutopolis                    2    2    9    12     --    25

Pleasant Plains           6    6    6    10    --    28

Teutopolis -- Grimes 13, Mette 5, Niemerg 2, Deters 5

Pleasant Plains -- Watson 1, Darush 2, R. Smith 4, Dossett 4, Green 6, M. Smith 11