Mattoon Edges Hearts in Apollo Action

Well, Mattoon lived to post a 56-53 victory, but it was a near-death experience.

As for the Effingham Hearts, it came down to a couple of miscues at game's end that cost them a victory.

The game at Mattoon was close all night with neither team leading by more than seven points. Effingham had that advantage a couple of times, but they could never extend the lead because of the barrage of three-pointers Mattoon unloaded.

Effingham got out of the gate in good shape and led 17-15 after one quarter. The Hearts led 27-25 at halftime and were up 43-37 after three quarters. Unfortunately, Mattoon led at the end of the fourth quarter, and that's the one that counts. The Green Wave outscored the Hearts 19-10 in the final period.

Effingham shot 42% from the field, making 19 of 45 including 5 of 18 threes. Mattoon, on the other hand, made just 19 of 50 shots, but that included 12 of 27 from three-point land and that was enough. 

Effingham made 9 of 11 foul shots, turned the ball over just 10 times, and grabbed 28 rebounds. Mattoon was 6 of 8 from the line, also turned it over 10 times, and pulled down 25 rebounds.

The Wolfe brothers, Landon and Parker, combined for 41 of Effingham's points, 22 from Landon and 19 from Parker. Cole Marxman and Nate Thompson each scored six points. Thompson led the Hearts in rebounding with nine and Landon Wolfe grabbed eight.

Jaydon Noe led Mattoon with 22 points including five made threes. Noe scored nine points in the fourth quarter. Jadyn Princko scored 14 points, but only two after intermission. Jacob Spitz scored nine points, Jake Ghere eight, and Dalton Compton three.

Mattoon improved to 4-1 on the season, while Effingham is now 2-3. It was the Apollo Conference opener for both teams.

Mattoon also won a close JV game 64-63. Ben Donsbach led Effingham with 18 points, while Tristin Duncan with 13 points and Max Woelfer with 11 points were also in double figures for the JV Hearts. It was the JV opener for both teams.