Hearts, Bulldogs Roll to Wins at St. Anthony Tourney

The Effingham Hearts and the St. Anthony Bulldogs rolled to wins Wednesday night at the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Hearts downed Tolono Unity 71-45 while the Bulldogs beat Highland 68-25. Both games were heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Mattoon won the Wednesday opener, downing Breese Central 77-53.

EFFINGHAM 71, TOLONO UNITY 45

For the second straight night, Effingham pulled ahead early and never looked back. The Hearts led 21-11 at the end of the first quarter, then outscored the Rockets 23-16 in the second period to lead 44-27 at halftime. A 25-8 third quarter sealed the win as Effingham was ahead 69-35. A continuous clock throughout the fourth period saw Effingham score just two more points, but they still won by 26 points.

Effingham shot 35% from the field, 24 of 68 including 9 of 31 threes. The Hearts made 14 of 18 foul shots including 12 of 13 in the first half. Despite an up-tempo game, the Hearts committed just eight turnovers and grabbed 36 rebounds.

Tolono Unity made 14 of 36 shots, 39% including 4 of 21 threes. The Rockets made 13 of 23 foul shots, turned the ball over 25 times and pulled down 19 rebounds.

Nate Thompson had a huge night for the Hearts, scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Parker Wolfe also had a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Drew Thompson added 15 points on five three-pointers. Also for Effingham: Brayden Pals 7, and Tate Niebrugge, Jacob Stoneburner and Jacob Briggerman, 2 each.

Jordan Clark and Nate Drennan scored 15 points apiece for Unity, now 0-2. 

ST. ANTHONY 68, HIGHLAND 25

St. Anthony scored the first 11 points of the game and led 20-3 after one quarter. St. Anthony pushed the lead to 39-10 at halftime, then 53-20 after three quarters before outscoring Highland 15-5 in the final period to post the 43-point win.

St. Anthony shot 53% from the field, 27 of 51 including 5 of 13 threes. St. Anthony made 9 of 16 foul shots, turned the ball over 13 times, and grabbed 30 rebounds.

Highland made 9 of 27 shots, 33%, including 3 of 12 threes. Highland shot just seven free throws and made four. Highland committed a whopping 30 turnovers and had just 14 rebounds.

Aaron Webb and Jaccob Dust shared scoring honors with 14 points each for St. Anthony. Logan Antrim was also in double figures with 11 points. Also for St. Anthony: Jack Hoene 8, Kaden Fearday 6, Jack Elder 4, Craig Croy 3, Ty Wiedman 3, Eli Moore 2, Grant Nuxoll 2, and Kennan Walsh 1.

Freshman Cade Altadonna led Highland with 10 points.

After three days of play, St. Anthony, Effingham, Teutopolis and Mattoon are each 2-0; and Robinson, Breese Central, Tolono Unity and Highland are each 0-2. 

Four games are scheduled Friday. At 3pm, Highland will play Tolono Unity, at 4:30pm, Teutopolis will take on Mattoon, at 6pm, Breese Central will play Robinson, and at 7:30pm, St. Anthony will play Effingham. We will have the Shoes/Green Wave game at 4:30pm and the Bulldogs/Hearts game at 7:30pm on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

The tournament will conclude with four games on Saturday.

St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tournament

Game Seven

TOLONO UNITY (45)

Kimball 1-2 -- 4, Sappenfield 1-0 -- 3, Bowers 1-0 -- 2, Knoll 0-0 -- 0, Drennan 3-9 -- 15, Clark 6-1 -- 15, Hensch 0-0 -- 0, Rutledge 0-0 -- 0, Price 2-1 -- 6. TOTALS 14 FG, 13 FT.

EFFINGHAM (71)

Woelfer 0-0 -- 0, Niebrugge 0-2 -- 2, Wolfe 5-7 -- 17, Woomer 0-0 -- 0, D. Thompson 5-0 -- 15, Ritz 0-0 -- 0, N. Thompson 9-4 -- 26, Logan 0-0 -- 0, B. Thompson 0-0 -- 0, Lee 0-0 -- 0, Pals 3-1 --7, Stoneburner 1-0 -- 2, Biggerman 1-0 -- 2, Jones 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 24 FG, 14 FT.

Tolono Unity              11    16      8    10    --    45

Effingham                  21    23    25     2    --    71

3-point FG -- Tolono Unity 4 (Clark 2, Sappenfield 1, Price 1),  Effingham 9 (D. Thompson 5, N. Thompson 4)

Game Eight

ST. ANTHONY (68)

Webb 6-1 -- 14, Antrim 5-0 -- 11, Hoene 3-0 -- 8, Fearday 3-0 -- 6, Dust 6-2 -- 14, Moore 1-0 -- 2, Walsh 0-1 -- 1, Walk 0-0 -- 0, Elder 1-2 -- 4, Croy 1-1 -- 3, Nuxoll 0-2 -- 2, Hotze 0-0 -- 0, Willenborg 0-0 -- 0, Wiedman 1-0 -- 3. TOTALS 27 FG, 9 FT.

HIGHLAND (25)

Altadonna 3-2 -- 10, Portell 0-0 -- 0, Peterson 2-1 -- 5, Kassay 2-1 -- 5, Mackey 1-0 -- 2, Jansen 0-0 -- 0, Parker 0-0 -- 0, Gelly 0-0 -- 0, Carter 1-0 -- 3. TOATLS 9 FG, 4 FT.

St. Anthony             20    19    14    15    --    68

Highland                    3      7    10      5    --    25

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 5 (Hoene 2, Webb 1, Antrim 1, Wiedman 1), Highland 3 (Altadonna 2, Carter 1).