Lady Hearts Win Again; 24-0

The Effingham Hearts improved to 24-0 Thursday night with a win over the Mt. Zion Braves in girls basketball competition, but the margin keeps getting more and more narrow.

Effingham held on to defeat Mt. Zion 42-39. Mount Zion took an 8-4 opening quarter lead and led 25-16 at halftime. The Hearts then mounted a major comeback in the second half, outscoring the Braves 14-6 in the third period and 12-8 in the final quarter.

Josie Zerrusen led the way for the Hearts with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jantzen Michael tallied 10 points while Lauren Stephenson chipped in with nine. Caitlin Kaufman and Stephanie Robb led in the rebound category with eight each.

"This was a great win tonight as Mount Zion played an incredible game," said EHS Coach Jeff Schafer. "We had to dig really deep to find this one. We just kept gnawing away and finally made enough plays to win the game. We played just a great second half and stuck together and got the win."

The Hearts improve to 8-0 in the conference.

The Hearts don't have much time to rest before they take on the Teutopolis Shoes at EHS tonight.  Hear the game tonight on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.  Pregame coverage should begin around 7:30 p.m.

At Effingham

MOUNT ZION (39)

Rothrock 4-0 -- 10, Marquandt 1-0 -- 3, McElyea 2-0 -- 4, Johnson 5-2 -- 16, Probst 1-0 -- 2, Dick 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 15 FG, 2 FT.

EFFINGHAM (42)

Michael 2-6 -- 10, Beals 0-0 -- 0, Tottern 1-0 -- 2, Stpehenson 2-5 -- 9, Kaufman 0-0 -- 0, Robb 2-0 -- 4, Zerrusen 5-4 -- 17. TOTALS 11 FG, 15 FT.

Mount Zion          8    17      6      8    --    39

Effingham           4    12    14    12    --    42

3-point FG -- Mount Zion 7 (Marquandt 1, Rothrock 2, Johnson 4), Effingham 3 (Zerrusen 3).

Junior  Varsity Game -- Effingham 30, Mount Zion 25

Effingham -- Conkling 8, Beals 5