Effingham Wins Its First-Ever Effingham/Teutopolis Tournament Game

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Published on December 27 2013 9:44 pm
Last Updated on December 27 2013 9:45 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham Hearts struggled early, but then broke away to post a convincing 58-32 win over the Charleston Trojans to conclude the first day of the first-ever Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Tournament.  The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.

Charleston hung tough in the early minutes of the game before the Hearts hit their stride to pull ahead 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter is where Effingham shined, outscoring the Trojans 18-6 to take a 33-18 halftime lead.  Effingham outscored Charleston 25-14 in the second half to post the 26-point win.

The Hearts hit exactly half their shots, 24 of 48.  Effingham made nine of 14 foul shots, turned the ball over just nine times, and grabbed a whopping 30 rebounds.  The Hearts made just one of 10 three-point attempts, meaning they went 23 of 38 from two-point range.  

Charleston made 12 of 39 shots for 31%, made four of seven at the line, committed 16 turnovers and pulled down 20 rebounds while making four of 14 three-point tries.

Everyone on the rosters of both ball clubs played in the contest.  Kevin Daugherty led Effingham in scoring with 12 points, had six rebounds and led with four assists.  Leighton Lark scored 11 points, and led with seven rebounds, adding two assists.  Also for Effingham: Kennan Mahaffey seven, Matt Wohltman six, Isaac Foreman five along with four rebounds, Grant Wolfe five, Braydon Bone and Michael Carie four each, and Marcus Robinson and Luis Ramos two each.

Will Strader and Reece Bell each scored seven points to lead Charleston, now 1-8 on the season and 0-2 in the tournament.  Charleston is slated for the fifth place game at 5pm, but their opponent is yet to be determined.

Effingham improved to 6-2 on the season and 1-0 in the tournament.  The Hearts will play Chicago Al Raby Saturday at 12:30pm.  That game will follow Teutopolis and Mattoon at 11am.  Both of those games will be played at Teutopolis and both will be broadcast on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.  

If Teutopolis and Effingham both win Saturday during the day session, they would play each other at 8pm Saturday for the tournament championship.

Also Friday at the tournament, Chicago Al Raby pulled away in the second half to defeat Charleston 62-51 and Mt. Vernon defeated Mattoon 64-48.  Teutopolis defeated Mt. Vernon 55-42 Friday afternoon to kick off the tournament.

After the first day of action, Effingham, Teutopolis and Al Raby are each 1-0, Mt. Vernon is 1-1, Mattoon is 0-1 and Charleston is 0-2.  

The third place finishers in each pool will play at 5pm, the second place finishers in each pool will play at 6:30pm and the first place finishers in each pool will play at 8pm.