Hearts Set Single Season Win Record, Advances to Regional Championship; St. A, N. Clay Fall At Sectional

The Effingham Lady Hearts set a single-season record for wins Wednesday night with a 60-46 victory over the Mattoon Lady Wave. In the process, Effingham advanced to the championship game of their own Class 3A Regional Tournament.  The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Effingham had a great shooting night, making 22 of 36 shots for 61%.  Despite that, the Lady Hearts could not put away Mattoon until late in the game.

The Lady Hearts held a 16-13 lead after one quarter and led 25-20 at halftime.  Mattoon scored five straight points to tie the game at 20-20, but the Hearts scored the next five points to hold the lead at intermission.

Effingham's best quarter of the night might have been the third, when they made six of eight shots from the field and outscored Mattoon 18-13 to pull ahead by 10, 43-33.

Mattoon came right and hit two three-pointers to start the fourth quarter, cutting the Hearts' lead to 43-39, but Effingham was able to finally begin to take command of the game and outscored Mattoon 17-7 for the rest of the period to win by 14 points.

In addition to the 61% shooting from the field, Effingham made 11 of 16 foul shots, grabbed 19 rebounds, committed 13 turnovers and hit five of 13 three-pointers.  

Mattoon made 19 of 45 shots for 42%.  Mattoon made four of eight foul shots, pulled down 16 rebounds, committed 17 turnovers and made four of 17 three-point tries.

Josie Zerrusen and Lauren Stephenson shared scoring honors for the Lady Hearts with 17 points apiece, with Stephenson going seven for seven from the field.  Caitlin Kaufman hit some big three-point shots to total 11 points.  Also for the Lady Hearts: Jantzen Michael seven, Brittany Beals six, and Stephanie Robb two points.

Samantha Thompson led Mattoon with 13 points while Kaitlyn Bath scored 12 points and freshman Avery Jackson 11 points.

Effingham improved to 27-3 on the season, the most wins ever in a season for an Effingham girls team.  Mattoon finishes the season with a 12-16 record.

Effingham will play Friday at 7 p.m. for the regional championship against Salem, a 51-36 winner over Olney in the second game Wednesday evening. The game can be heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.

Class 3A Effingham Regional

MATTOON (46)

Considine 1-7 0-0 2, Jackson 4-14 0-0 11, Sa. Thompson 5-6 3-4 13, Cox 0-4 0-0 0, Bath 6-7 0-2 12, Fisher 1-4 0-0 3, Si. Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, Phipps 1-1 1-2 3. TOTALS 19-45 FG, 4-8 FT.

EFFINGHAM (60)

Michael 2-5 2-3 7, Totten 0-1 0-0 0, Robb 1-2 0-0 2, Kaufman 3-8 3-4 11, Zerrusen 6-9 3-5 17, Stephenson 7-7 3-4 17, Beals 3-3 0-0 6, Field 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 22-36 FG, 11-16 FT.

Mattoon              13    7    13    13    --    46

Effingham          16    9    18    17    --    60

3-point FG -- Mattoon 4 (Jackson 3, Fisher 1), Effingham 5 (Michael 1, Kaufman 2, Zerrusen 2). Rebounds -- Mattoon 16 (Bath 5, Si. Thompson 4), Effingham 19 (Stephenson 6, Kaufman 3, Zerrusen 3). Turnovers -- Mattoon 17, Effingham 13.

   --

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs saw their best-ever season come to an end Wednesday, losing in semi-final action at the Cumberland 1A Sectional Tournament 49-31 to Central A&M.  The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.

A&M stepped out to a 12-5 opening quarter lead and held a 26-16 halftime tally. A&M continued it's scoring with an 8-6 edge in the third quarter and a 15-9 final period surge.

Dooley led the winners with 15 points while Maples added 11. Central A&M advances to the sectional championship tonight with a 25-5 record.

St. Anthony was led by Kate Richards with 10 points.

Bart Wiedman's crew sees their season end after setting a record for wins with 22 and after winning the school's first-ever girls basketball regional championship.

In the second game of the Cumberland Sectional, Arcola claimed a 47-35 win over North Clay (Louisville).

The Cardinals stepped out to a 16-9 opening quarter lead but Arcola came back to pull within 21-19 at halftime. Arcola then had a 13-10 third period run and outscored the Cardinals 15-4 in the final period.

Edwards led the winners with 26 points. North Clay was led by K. Stanfield with 12, Wyatt with 11 and Walker with 10.

Arcola will now meet Central A&M tonight at 7 for the sectional championship.

Class 1A Cumberland Sectional

Game One

CENTRAL A&M (49)

Dooley 5-3 -- 15, T. Jordan 2-1 -- 6, Hennings 3-1 -- 9, O. Jordan 0-0 -- 0, Maples 3-5 -- 11, Damery 1-0 -- 2, Hilton 0-0 -- 0, Gibson 2-0 -- 6. TOTALS 16 FG, 10 FT.

ST. ANTHONY (31)

Gardewine 2-0 -- 4, L. Niebrugge 0-0 -- 0, Wendt 1-1 -- 3, Mumm 0-0 -- 0, Nuxoll 2-1 -- 5, Richards 2-6 -- 10, Walsh 2-3 -- 7, H. Niebrugge 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 9 FG, 11 FT. (individuals add up to 29 while 31 listed as final)

Central A&M          12    14    8    15    --    49

St. Anthony               5    11    6      9    --    31

3-point FG -- Centarl A&M 7 (Gibson 2, Hennings 2, Dooley 2, T. Jordan 1), St. Anthony 0.

Game Two

ARCOLA (47)

Edwards 12-0 -- 26, Montgomery 3-2 -- 8, Conlin 0-1 -- 1, Fishel 3-0 -- 6, Karmazinas 1-0 -- 2, Reece 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 21 FG, 3 FT.

NORTH CLAY (35)

Wyatt 4-2 -- 11, K. Stanfield 5-2 -- 12, Walker 4-0 -- 10, Ruholl 0-2 -- 2, BIble 0-0 -- 0, M. Stanfield 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 13 FG, 6 FT.

Arcola                     9    10    13    15    --    47

Nroth Clay          16       5    10      4    --    35

3-point FG -- Arcola 2 (Edwards 2),  North Clay 3 (Walker 2, Wyatt 1).