Lady Hearts Improve to 8-0 w/Big Win Over Taylorville

The Effingham Lady Hearts improved to 8-0 on the season with a convincing 57-26 win over the Taylorville Lady Tornadoes Thursday night. The game at EHS Gym was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

Taylorville, coached by EHS graduate Steve Keller, came into the contest at 6-3 on the season, but Effingham's relentless defense soon took its toll.

Effingham took a 10-0 lead, but saw Taylorville pull to within 12-6 at the end of the first quarter. The middle two quarters, though, were something special. Effingham outscored the Tornadoes 33-8 to pull ahead 45-14 heading for the fourth quarter. The final period was a 12-12 standoff.

Effingham posted the big win despite a so-so shooting night. The Hearts were 23 of 51 from the field for 45% including 6 of 16 on threes. They made 5 of 8 foul shots, grabbed 26 rebounds and committed just 10 turnovers.

Taylorville made just 11 of 41 shots for 27% including 1 of 11 threes. The Tornadoes were 3 of 7 from the line, pulled down 29 rebounds but were forced into a whopping 21 turnovers.

Carsyn Fearday led Effingham with 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting with four assists and three rebounds. Abby Weis scored 11 points on 5 of 8 shooting with three assists. 

Here's the breakdown on the Lady Hearts' stats: Carsyn Fearday--5 of 10 from the field including two of two on threes, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 16 points...Aly Armstrong--1 of 4 shooting including 1 of 3 threes, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 points...Miranda Fox--2 of 6 from the field including 1 of 2 threes, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 points...Abby Weis--5 of 8 shooting including 1 of 4 threes, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 11 points...Bria Barr--0 for 3 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 assist...Skyler Schafer--2 for 4 shooting including 1 of 2 threes, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 points...Natalie Carie--4 of 10 from the field including 0 of 3 on threes, 3 rebounds, 8 points...Shelby Myers--3 of 5 from the field, 6 rebounds, 7 points...Jessie Herboth--1 for 1 from the field, 2 points

Freshman Haylee Sagle had a big fourth quarter and finished with 10 points to lead Taylorville. Natalie Snyder scored 7 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Effingham, rated sixth in the state in this week's first poll of the season, is headed to Mahomet-Seymour Monday night for a first-ever Apollo Conference meeting with the Lady Bulldogs. The #6 rating, by the way, is the highest ever for a Lady Hearts team according to Coach Jeff Schafer.