Effingham Posts Convincing Win Over St. Anthony in Battle of Two City Schools

The Effingham Hearts advanced to the championship game of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament with a convincing 56-31 win over their crosstown rival, the St. Anthony Bulldogs Friday night.

The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  Watch for a video replay of the game here on the website starting sometime Saturday morning.

(THE CHAMBER, THE EFFINGHAM HIGH STUDENT CHEERING SECTION, HAD A ROLLICKING GOOD TIME FRIDAY NIGHT...photo courtesy of Gary Stanfield)

Effingham combined a very effective defense with good shooting and superior rebounding to win the game going away. The Hearts led 13-8 after one quarter, but really kicked it in gear in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Bulldogs 30-10 in that span to lead 43-18 after three periods. The Hearts led by as many as 31 points in the contest.

Effingham shot 51% from the field, making 22 of 43 shots, including five of eight from three-point range. The Hearts made six of 10 foul shots, committed 13 turnovers and grabbed 32 rebounds.

(THE DOGPOUND, THE ST. ANTHONY HIGH STUDENT CHEERING SECTION, MADE THEIR SHARE OF NOISE FRIDAY NIGHT...photo courtesy of Gary Stanfield)

St. Anthony shot 24% from the field on eight of 33 shooting. The Bulldogs made 14 of 23 foul shots, turned the ball over 10 times and pulled down 15 rebounds while making just one of seven three-point shots.

Sophomore Grant Wolfe busted loose for 21 points to lead Effingham on eight of 11 shooting including two three-pointers. Jacob Donaldson scored 12 points on four of nine from the floor including two three-pointers. Michael Carie scored eight points and led with nine rebounds. Also for Effingham: Jared Minor and Frankie Kasdorf four points each, Sean Zerrusen and Brady Jackson three apiece, and Reed Schafer one point. Braydon Bone didn't score, but played withering defense, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot. Donaldson had five boards, Wolfe four, Zerrusen three, Minor two, and Kasdorf and Brady Scott one each.

Andrew Gardewine led St. Anthony with 10 points. Also for the Bulldogs: Connor Greene six, Kyle Hartke four, Braden Puckett and Chandler Martelli three each, Derek Rios and Kyle Bourgeosi two apiece, and Zach Gardewine one point.

The Hearts are 3-0 for the week and will play Breese Central for the tournament championship Saturday night at 7:30pm. The Cougars are also 3-0. St. Anthony is 2-1 for the week and will play Mt. Zion for third place at 6pm. The Braves are also 2-1. We'll have both games on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  

Here are the other scores from Friday at the tournament:

Mt. Zion 61, Clifton Central 51

St. Thomas More 79, Mattoon 74 (OT)

Breese Central 62, Robinson 43

Here are the pairings for Saturday's games at St. Anthony:

3pm--Mattoon vs. Clifton Central

4:30pm--St. Thomas More vs. Robinson

6pm--St. Anthony vs. Mt. Zion

7:30pm--Effingham vs. Breese Central