Hearts Win Conference Clash at Taylorville

The Effingham Hearts were outscored 5-0 at the start of Friday night's game at Taylorville and 6-0 to start the second half, but the rest of the game went pretty well as the Hearts captured a key Apollo Conference road win, 64-58. The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  

The game was a rugged one, but the Hearts adapted and posted the win. After Taylorville scored those first five points of the game, the Hearts scored the next six and by quarter's end held a 17-10 lead. The Hearts at one point pushed their lead to nine, but the Tornadoes came back to pull within 33-28 at halftime. Taylorville had their run to regain the lead to begin the second half, but the Hearts moved back in front and were up 45-41 after three quarters. Effingham outscored Taylorville 19-17 in the final quarter to post the six-point win.

The Hearts hit 26 of 48 shots for 54%. They added seven of 10 from the line, pulled down 30 rebounds and made five of 10 three-point attempts. One glaring problem area was a whopping 25 turnovers.

Taylorville made 21 of 46 shots for 46%, adding 12 of 18 from the line, grabbing just 14 rebounds and making four of 14 three-point shots.

Grant Wolfe led Effingham with 17 points on five of nine shooting, Michael Carie added 15 points on seven of 13 shooting, and Jared Minor scored 10 points on five of eight shooting. Also for the Hearts: Sean Zerrusen eight, Braydon Bone seven, Frankie Kasdorf four and Brent Beals three points.

Mitchell Rhymes with 17 points and Cole Sheedy with 15 points led Taylorville, now 9-5 on the season. Effingham improved to 11-3 on the season.

Effingham won the JV game 63-59. Brent Beals with 23 points led the JV Hearts, while Trevor Kreke added 12 points. The JV Hearts are now 4-2.