Basketball

The Effingham girls basketball program will host an Alumni Night on Thursday, Jan. 12.

Effingham will play host to Paris.

All former girls basketball players and managers, as well as former Effingham coaches, are invited to come and celebrate EHS coach Jeff Schafer becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history.

All former alumni and coaches will be admitted into the game that night for free. In addition, we will also be recognizing Schafer for his accomplishments. The recognition will take place prior to the varsity contest.

Following the varsity game, there will be a reception for Coach Schafer in the gym lobby.

We look forward to the celebration and hope to have a huge turnout for that event.

It’s hard to win a basketball game when you shoot 19 percent.

The Effingham Lady Hearts found that out Saturday.

Effingham simply couldn’t buy a basket and dropped a 54-41 Apollo Conference decision at Mt. Zion.

The Lady Hearts were within 13-10 after the first period, but the Lady Braves then outscored EHS 16-8 in the second quarter to take a double-digit, 29-18, advantage to the locker room at intermission.

It remained a double-digit margin most of the second half. The Lady Hearts trailed 38-26 after three quarters and couldn’t close the gap down the stretch.

Ella Niebrugge was the only Lady Heart in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Madison Mapes added eight.

Effingham dipped to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in league play. The Lady Hearts will travel to Taylorville on Tuesday.

Ian Winkler poured in 36 points, including 12 in the fourth period Tuesday night, helping the Richland County (Olney) Tigers pull away and post a 66-52 victory at home over Effingham.

Winkler started the game hot, pumping in 13 points in the opening eight minutes, helping the Tigers break out to an 18-7 lead. But the Hearts fought their way back, closing to within 41-37 after three periods of play. Olney then closed the game on a 25-15 run.

The big difference was at the free throw line. The Tigers shot 38 free throws, making 24, while the Hearts had just 14 foul shots and made 8.

Andrew Splechter led Effingham with 14 points, while Logan Heil added 11.

The Hearts dropped to 6-10 on the season. They will return home Friday to face Mt. Zion in an Apollo Conference game.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

The Mt. Zion Braves are tall and quick.

They are aggressive at both ends of the floor and feature a balanced scoring attack.

And they are poised to be a force to reckon with for years as they start three sophomores and a junior and have a talented 6’7” freshman as their sixth man.

All of this was on display Friday night when the conference-leading Braves paid a visit to Effingham.

The Hearts played hard and even led early. But in the end, it was the talented Mt. Zion squad that came away with a 59-48 victory.

“The sky is the limit for that team,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “They are a very talented team. But this type of game makes us better and helps prepare us for the post-season. We grew some tonight by playing a team like Mt. Zion.”

Farmer’s game plan was clock management.

“The more we have the ball, the less they do,” he said. “We wanted to run 30 seconds or more off the clock with each possession. When we had the opportunity to score, we took them. But we wanted to pass up the good shot for a great shot.”