Hearts Suffer First Conference Loss in Final Regular Season Game; Wolfe Reaches 1,000

The Effingham Hearts suffered their first Apollo Conference loss in the last game of the regular season Friday night, falling at Taylorville 78-72 to the Tornadoes.

Effingham got out of the gate in good shape, leading Taylorville 20-15 after one quarter, but the Tornadoes outscored the Hearts 26-12 in the second quarter to lead 41-32 at halftime. Taylorville extended the lead to 59-47 after three quarters. The Hearts tried to come back, outscoring Taylorville 25-19 in the fourth quarter, but lost by six. Effingham finished the regular season on a two-game losing skid to drop to 19-8.

The bright spot on the night was that Hearts junior Grant Wolfe went over 1,000 points for his career. Wolfe was 17 points short entering the game and almost took care of the matter by halftime, scoring 15 points in the first half and finishing with 27 points for the game including four threes. 

Sean Zerrusen scored 15 points and Reed Schafer scored 13 points. Also for the Hearts: Jacob Donaldson 8, Jared Minor 4, Brent Beals 3, and Michael Woltman 2.

Effingham opens post-season play Wednesday at 7pm at the Mattoon 3A Regional, taking on Olney Richland County.

Effingham won its final JV game of the season, downing Taylorville 61-55. Landon Wolfe led the way with 20 points, while Brent Beals scored 16 points and Mason Hull had 13 points. Also for the Hearts JV: Jason Devore 6, Alec Morrissey 2, Ryan Huelsbusch 2, and Blake Lohman 2.

The Hearts JV squad finished with a 14-4 record.