Lady Hearts Now 22-0, Neoga Downs St. Anthony

The Effingham Lady Hearts improved to 22-0 with a 68-33 victory over the Dieterich Lady Maroons and Neoga's Lady Indians reinforced that old "tough to beat a team three times in a season" theory with a 47-42 win over the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs.  The games at the Effingham Girls Round-Robin Tournament were heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.  

Effingham showed why they're undefeated with a convincing win over the young but scrappy Dieterich squad.

The Lady Hearts led 13-2 after one quarter and pushed the advantage to 33-14 at halftime.  The third quarter is where Effingham really kicked it in.  After an early run to pull within 17, Dieterich was outscored 18-6 in the period to fall behind Effingham 51-20 at the end of the period.  The Hearts outpointed the Maroons 17-13 in the final quarter to account for the 35-point win.

Effingham made 49% of its shots from the field, hitting 28 of 57 including six of 13 from three-point range.  The Hearts made six of 11 foul shots, turned the ball over 11 times and pulled down 30 rebounds.

Dieterich made 13 of 43 shots for 30% including three of 12 three-point tries.  Dieterich made four of just five foul shots and grabbed 26 rebounds, but were plagued by 22 turnovers.

Caitlin Kaufman had a big night for Effingham, scoring 24 points on eight of 13 shooting and made six three-pointers along the way.  Josie Zerrusen and Maddy Field each scored 11 points with Zerrusen leading the Lady Hearts with seven rebounds.  Also for Effingham: Stephanie Robb eight, Jantzen Michael six, and Felicia Totten and Brittany Beals with four points apiece.

Mallorie Vahling led Dieterich with a double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Also for Dieterich: Courtney Flach eight, Rachel Schmidt five, and Elizabeth Abbott and Kallee Rae Heuerman two points each.

Dieterich is now 5-11 on the season.

Effingham was also recognized as the tournament champions for the second straight season.  Three Effingham players were named to the All-Tourney Team...Jantzen Michael, Josie Zerrusen and Caitlin Kaufman.  The other members of the All-Tourney Team will be honored after Friday night's games; this was the last action for Effingham in the round-robin tournament.

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In the other contest, Neoga outscored St. Anthony 16-8 in the fourth quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a five-point victory.  Neoga never had a two-possession lead until their run in the final period.  

St. Anthony got out of the gate well, leading Neoga 12-6 after one quarter and still up 23-21 at halftime, but by that time Neoga had shaken off a slow start and it was anybody's game in the second half.

St. Anthony outscored Neoga 11-10 in the third quarter to lead 34-31 heading into the final period, but Neoga went to work and came from behind for the win.

St. Anthony had a huge rebounding edge, pulling down 41 caroms to 19 for Neoga, but the Lady Indians turned the ball over just seven times in the game while the Lady Bulldogs gave it up 18 times.

The Bulldogs made just 17 of 55 shots for 31% and made just four of 10 foul shots.  St. Anthony made four of 16 three-point tries.

Neoga made 18 of 50 shots for 36% including three of 13 on three-pointers.  Neoga made just eight of 16 foul shots.

Despite fouling out late in the contest, Jillian Deters of Neoga led all scorers with 17 points.  E.C. Thies scored 13 points for Neoga.  Also for Neoga: Madison Butler eight, Jaycie Roy four, Olivia Ott three and Kelli Erickson two.

Kate Richards led St. Anthony with 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds.  Makayla Walsh scored nine points, and Megan Nuxoll scored six points but grabbed 17 rebounds on her 17th birthday.  Also for St. Anthony: Lauren Wendt four, and Morgan Gardewine, Hunter Niebrugge and Abby Brown two points each.

Neoga improved to 15-7 with the victory after having lost to St. Anthony twice earlier this season including one week ago at Neoga.  St. Anthony is now 13-7 on the season.

Effingham finished the tournament with a 4-0 record.  Centralia and Neoga are each 2-1, and Dieterich and St. Anthony are both 0-3.

Action in the tournament ends Friday.  At 6:15pm, Dieterich will play St. Anthony.  At 7:45pm, Neoga takes on Centralia.

Effingham Tournament

Game Seven

ST. ANTHONY (42)

Gardewine 1-0 -- 2, L. Niebrugge 0-0 -- 0, Wendt 2-0 -- 4, Mumm 0-0 -- 0, Nuxoll 2-2 -- 6, Brown 1-0 -- 2, Richards 7-1 -- 17, Walsh 3-1 -- 9, H. Niebrugge 1-0 -- 2. TOTALS 17 FG, 4 FT.

NEOGA (47)

Butler 1-6 -- 8, Ott 1-1 -- 3, Thies 5-1 -- 13, Deters 8-0 -- 17, Erickson 1-0 -- 2, Roy 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 15 FG, 8 FT.

St. Anthony          12     11    11      8    --    42

Neoga                      6     15    10    16    --    47

3-point FG -- St. Anthony 4 (Richards 2, Walsh 2), Neoga 3 (Thies 2, Deters 1).

Game Eight

EFFINGHAM (68)

Michael 2-2 -- 6, Beals 2-0 -- 4, Totten 2-0 -- 4, Kaufman 8-2 -- 24, Robb 4-0 -- 8, Zerrusen 5-1 -- 11, Crowell 0-0 -- 0, Field 5-1 -- 11. TOTALS 28 FG, 6 FT.

DIETERICH (33)

Abbott 2-0 -- 5, Flach 3-0 -- 8, Aherin 0-0 -- 0, Ruholl 0-0 -- 0, Schmidt 1-0 -- 2, Heuerman 1-0 -- 2, Vahling 6-4 -- 16. TOTALS 13 FG, 4 FT.

Effingham          13    20    18    17    --    68

Dieterich             2    12      6    13    --    33

3-point FG -- Effingham 6 (Kaufman 6), Dieterich 3 (Abbott 1, Flach 2).