Effingham Junior High Claims Two Wins Over Altamont

Effingham handed Altamont a 69-49 loss in eighth-grade boys basketball competition Thursday evening while the seventh-grade squad came from behind to pull out a 41-35 win.

In the seventh-grade contest, Effingham got off to a slow start and trailed 29-21 entering the fourth quarter. But the Mustangs rallied with a 20-6 advantage to secure the victory.

Ryan Sandifer led the Mustangs with 22 points and 10 steals, 14 of those points came during the fourth quarter rally. Mason Hull chipped in with eight and Adam Levitt seven. Effingham improves to 9-4.

Altamont was led in scoring by Stevenson and Vaughn with nine each.

In the eighth-grade game, the Mustangs trailed Altamont 14-6 after the opening quarter but came back with a 22-14 second period run to knot the score at 28-28 at halftime. Effingham then produced a 25-10 third quarter spurt to pull away.

Jacob Donaldson and Grant Wolfe were the one-two scoring punch for the Mustangs with 29 and 25 points respectively. Wolfe led in steals with five and had three rebounds. Donaldson also had three rebounds. Lane Koenig led in rebounds with four. Cory Osborn had three steals.

Altamont was led by Cornett with 14, Armstrong with 11 and Shepard with 10.

The Mustangs are now 13-1 on the season and handed Altamont its first loss for a 12-1 record. Effingham isn't back in action again until January 5 at Mattoon.

At Effingham

Seventh-Grade Game

Altamont         10     9     10     6     --     35

Effingham         6   12       3   20      --     41

Altamont -- Stevenson 9, Runge 3, Vaughn 9, Brown 7, Pemberton 5, Higgs 2

Effingham -- Sandifer 22 (10 steals, 2 rebounds), Hull 8 (7 steals, 5 rebounds), Levitt 7 (2 steals, 2 rebounds), Robinson 2 (2 steals, 4 rebounds), Devore 2 (1 steal, 1 rebound), Koester (1 steal), Br. Lohman (1 steal, 2 rebounds), Spencer (1 rebound), Bl. Lohman (1 steal)
Eighth-Grade Game

Altamont 14 14 10 11 -- 49

Effingham 6 22 25 16 -- 69

Altamont -- Armstrong 11, Cornett 14, Shepard 10, Finn 8, Stone 4, Bowlin 2

Effingham -- Wolfe 25, Donaldson 29, Beals 8, Koenig 3, Kreke 2 (individuals add up to 67 while 69 listed as final on scoresheet turned in).