Hearts Put On Clinic in Defeating Green Wave

The Effingham Hearts played one of their best games of the season Friday night in defeating the Mattoon Green Wave 55-35 in Mattoon.  The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

The Hearts were down 6-4 in the first quarter before scoring 14 unanswered points to take an 18-6 lead at the end of the period.  Mattoon made a run in the second quarter to pull within four before Effingham pulled back away to lead 31-20 at halftime.  The Hearts outscored Mattoon 14-6 in the third period to lead 45-26 and pushed the lead in the fourth quarter to 24 points before Mattoon closed the gap to 20.      (MATT WOHLTMAN)

Effingham shot 56% from the field, making 23 of 41 shots, many of those layups as the Hearts time and again pounded the ball inside.  The Hearts missed all eight of their three-point attempts, meaning they were 23 of 33 on two-point shots.  Add to that a nine for nine performance at the free throw line, just 11 turnovers and 25 rebounds and it's a recipe for a big Apollo Conference road win.

Hearts Coach Ron Reed admitted after the game, "I was worried about this one, but the boys came through in a great way."

Mattoon made just 14 of 37 shots for 37%, made four of seven foul shots, turned the ball over 13 times, and pulled down just 17 rebounds, making three of 12 three-point tries.

Matt Wohltman led Effingham with 18 points, hitting all seven of his shots from the field and all four of his shots at the line while grabbing five rebounds.  Isaac Foreman scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.  Kevin Daugherty scored nine points grabbed three boards, Kennan Mahaffey added eight points and three rebounds besides running the offense, and Phil Knight and Leighton Lark each scored four points.  Lark, the Hearts' leading scorer, was scratched early in the game and it took most of the first half to stop the bleeding.  He played most of the second half.

Travis Kittell led Mattoon with eight points.

The Hearts improved to 8-3 on the season and 3-0 in the Apollo Conference.  Mattoon slipped to 4-6 and 0-2 in the Apollo.  

Effingham won the JV game 65-49.  Grant Wolfe led the JV Hearts with 24 points while Braydon Bone scored 13 points and Michael Carie and Michael Woltman each scored eight points.