Lady Hearts, Minus Fearday, Fall at Charleston

The Effingham Lady Hearts, playing without starter Carsyn Fearday, fell to the Lady Trojans at Charleston 51-44 Monday night. The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

The game was a battle of unbeatens, with Charleston improving to 8-0, 2-0 in Apollo Conference play, while Effingham slipped to 6-1, 1-1 in the conference.

Fearday is still battling the effects of a concussion.

Effingham fell behind early, hitting just five of 22 shots in the first half, but stayed within striking distance, never trailing by more than seven in the first half. Charleston was just 8 of 21 in the first half.

Both teams warmed up in the second half, Charleston hitting 60% from the field, 12 of 20, while Effingham made 50% of its shots, 11 of 22. Time and again, Charleston would play away by seven or eight or even 10 points one trip, but Effingham would come charging back. The Lady Hearts, though, could never gain the lead. Effingham had one one-point lead early in the game, but Charleston led the balance of the game.

Charleston led 11-7 after one quarter, 20-15 at halftime, and 34-26 after three periods.

There were far too many turnovers for teams this talented, although the defense played by these teams was a factor. Effingham committed 22 turnovers, Charleston turned the ball over 19 times. Effingham had a slim 25-22 rebounding edge. Charleston only made one three-pointer in 10 tries, while Effingham made five in 22 tries. There wasn't much to choose from at the line; Charleston made 10 of 15, while Effingham made seven of nine.

Natalie Carie, who had two points at halftime, finally got on track in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points. She scored 13 points in the final period. Also for Effingham: Miranda Fox seven, Abby Weis six including her 1000th career point, Skyler Schafer five, and Madison Buscher and Kiyah Kuhlman four each. Weis now has 1,002 career points, the eighth Lady Hearts player to reach 1,000 points. 

(ABBY WEIS)

Sophomore Shae Littleford led Charleston and all scorers with 23 points, 11 in the fourth quarter. Bernie Jackson was also in double figures for Charleston with 11 points.

Effingham won the JV game with a big second half, 45-32.

Effingham heads for more Apollo Conference at Taylorville on Thursday night.

At Charleston

EFFINGHAM (44)

Kuhlman 2-0 -- 4, Schafer 2-1 -- 5, Carie 7-2 -- 18, Buscher 2-0 -- 4, Fox 1-4 -- 7, Weis 2-0 -- 6, Herboth 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 16 FG, 7 FT.

CHARLESTON (51)

Crowder 1-0 -- 2, Sh. Littleford 7-9 -- 23, H. Buescher 4-0 -- 8, Bollant 3-0 -- 7, E. Buescher 0-0 -- 0, Jackson 4-3 -- 11, Crites 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 19 FG, 12 FT.

Effingham               7    8    11    18    --    44

Charleston            11    9    14    17    --    51

3-point FG -- Effingham 5 (Carie 2, Weis 2, Fox 1),  Charleston 1 (Bollant 1),.