Effingham Girls Capture Regional Crown

Effingham High School captured the championship of the Class 3A Taylorville Regional Friday night.

TAYLORVILLE -- Call it a blitz . . . call it lightning in a bottle . . . call it amazing.

The Effingham High School girls' basketball team handed Lincoln a 70-64 loss to win the championship of the Class 3A Taylorville Regional Friday evening and the third quarter was all that and more.

EHS went on a 22-12 third period tear that will be talked about for a long time. Aly Armstrong hit two three-pointers in the first half while missing six. Three misses came in a row. But the 5-foot-7 junior put on a clinic by connecting on three of four from trifecta land in the third quarter run that pushed the Hearts out of danger and into a 10 point lead going into the final quarter.

Also getting into the act were Carsyn Fearday, Natalie Carie and Sidney Webster who nailed a three-pointer each. As a matter of fact the Hearts were unstoppable, popping in six of nine three-pointers and putting Lincoln on its heals and having to dig out of a very deep hole.

"How about that three point shooting," said EHS Coach Jeff Schafer, who picked up the 350th victory of his career at EHS. "I told Aly just to shoot and that's what she does for us. We had big baskets at big times."

As a matter of fact, Armstrong connected on a three-pointer to start the contest. The Hearts held a four-point lead in the opening quarter but here came Lincoln. The Railsplitters' Kennedy Lolling and Kaelyn Froebe hit three trifectas and moved their team into a 15-14 opening quarter lead.

That lead went to 18-14 at the start of the second period, but the Hearts eventually came back to tie it on a bucket by Fearday. The lead bounced back and forth in the second period and eventually was tied at 30-30 at halftime.

Then came the fateful third quarter run. The Hearts then connected on their free throws in the final period and hit six of nine baskets to keep Lincoln at bay for the six point victory.

"This was a great game for the fans," said Coach Schafer, who didn't know whether he would actually get to coach since he has been battling illness the last several days. "This has been a special group of kids and I didn't want to let the kids down by not being here."

The Hearts were led by three players in double figures and two just a point away. Armstrong finished with 17 points as she hit five three-pointers in the contest. Fearday tallied 16 points and led in rebounds with seven. She was five of seven from the field and five of nine from the line. Shelby Myers chipped in with some big points and scored 11, hitting four of five from the field and three of six at the line. Miranda Fox and Natalie Carie had nine points each.

Lincoln was led by talented junior Froebe with 29 points while K. Lolling chipped in with 13.

The Hearts improve to 26-4 on the season and will now advance to the Decatur MacAthur Sectional Monday where they will take on Apollo Conference foe Mattoon at 7:30 p.m. The opening game will feature Paris against Rochester at 6 p.m. The Hearts have faced Mattoon twice this season, losing the first time 46-45 and the second time 53-47.

The winner of Monday evening's games will advance to the sectional championship Thursday at 7 p.m.

Class 3A Taylorville Regional

Championship

LINCOLN (64)

M. Lolling 3-5 2-4 8, Froebe 10-17 4-4 29, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, K. Lolling 4-10 2-2 13, Bossingham 2-5 0-0 4, Hicks 0-0 0-0 0, Schneider 3-7 2-4 8, Block 0-0 0-0 0, Wieber 0-0 0-0 0, Konczyk 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23-45 FG, 10-14 FT.

EFFINGHAM (70)

Fearday 5-7 5-9 16, Armstrong 6-15 0-0 17, Fox 2-5 4-6 9, Barr 0-2 0-0 0, Myers 4-5 3-6 11, Schafer 1-2 0-0 2, Webster 2-4 0-0 6, Carie 3-6 0-0 9. TOTALS 23-46 FG, 12-21 FT.

Lincoln                15    15    12    22    --    64

Effingham           14    16    22    18    --    70

3-point FG -- Lincoln 8-16 (Froebe 5-9, K. Lolling 3-7), Effingham 12-24 (Fearday 1-2, Armstrong 5-13, Fox 1-2, Webster 2-3, Carie 3-5). Rebounds -- Lincoln 16 (K. Lolling 5), Effingham 26 (Fearday 7, Fox 6, Myers 5). Turnovers -- Lincoln 11, Effingham 15.