Eagles-Hearts battle to the end
By TERRY LIDY
In the final of three games played last Saturday due to postponements, the Effingham Hearts used a fourth quarter rally to post a hard fought 59-51 Apollo win at the NCHS gym.
After Chad Green scored the games' first basket on a rebound, the Eagles pushed ahead 5-2 as Japheth Bear drilled a three and drove the baseline for a reverse layup. The lead eventually reached 5 later when Peyton Wyatt nailed a three to give the Eagles an 11-6 edge. Later Jake Pilman converted a pair of foul shots and Bear scored inside on a Pilman assist as the Hearts stayed in contention and closed to within one as the quarter ended with a pair of Chase Green free throws.
Jerry Howze scored on the first Eagle possession to start the second quarter. Later a three point play by Brian Emmerich upped the edge to 20-15 at the 6:27 mark. The five point lead for Newton was the largest of the quarter. Effingham scored the next two buckets as Chad Green and Cody McCollum scored to make it 22-21. Japheth Bear answered with a hoop, but Jeremy Wohltman scored to pull the Hearts within one at 24-23 with 3:33 left. Jake Pilman next gave the Eagles a 26-23 edge with a basket. The final score of the half was by McCollum who fired in a long three to even the score at 26 at the intermission.
Japheth Bear led the first half attack scoring 9 points as the Eagles had upset plans in mind.
Effingham briefly took the lead as McCollum broke the tie with the first basket of the second half. However, Jake Pilman scored on a three point play with 6:28 left in the quarter and Peyton Wyatt scored to force Effingham Coach Ron Reed to call a timeout with 5:59 left. The Hearts came out of the timeout to score the next 5 points to retake the lead at 33-31 after a McCollum three point play. However, Japheth Bear and Jake Pilman returned the favor with a basket and a three point play with 4:09 left to produce a 36-33 Eagle lead. Like two heavyweights, McCollum answered with a three, only to see Peyton Wyatt help the Eagles retake the lead with his patented three pointer at the 3:19 mark. After Chase Green made it 39-38, Taylor Kerner scored on a 12-foot jumper on the left baseline and Peyton Wyatt finished off the quarter with yet another three as the Eagles took a 44-38 precarious lead into the final stanza. That margin evaporated in a hurry as Effingham scored the first 8 points of the quarter. A questionable call on a three point play started the run as Effingham moved ahead 46-44 forcing an Eagle timeout by Doug Mammoser with 5:44 remaining. Alex Frohning got the Eagles one point closer after converting one of two foul shots after the timeout with 5:24 left. However, Chad Green scored twice to up the Hearts' advantage to 50-45. Not to be outdone, Peyton Wyatt canned back to back trifectas to give the Eagles the lead at 51-50. Here McCollum answered with a basket and a foul shot on a drive protested by Doug Mammoser. "We thought that we were there for the charge on McCollum, but that's basketball," said Mammoser.
Down 53-51, the Eagles had their chances in the final 1:34. First Jake Pilman missed a pair of foul shots and at the 44.7 second mark, Peyton Wyatt missed the front end of a 1 and 1 free throw bonus to move closer. Needing to foul to stop the clock, the Eagles fouled Jeremy Wohltman who converted both tosses with 28.7 seconds left on a 1 and 1 bonus. Down 55-51, Jake Pilman drove for a layup only to have his attempt blocked by the 6'4" Chad Green. It was the last good shot for the Eagles as Wohltman converted more free throws in the final 19 seconds. The Hearts had scored the games final 9 points after Wyatt had given the Eagles a 51-50 lead.
"We played very hard. I think we did a nice job matching Effingham's intensity. They seem to have the ability to turn it up on the defensive end. They're one of the best teams in the area, but our kids were strong with the ball. We shot the ball well and took care of it," said Doug Mammoser after the battle.
It was a vast improvement for the Eagles after last Tuesday lackluster performance with Stew-Strasburg.
Both Effingham and Newton shot well as the Hearts made 23 baskets good for 52%. They converted 10 of 12 from the line with 9 turnovers. The Eagles made 19 field goals shooting 50% for the night and converted 7 of 11 free throws with 8 turnovers. Peyton Wyatt led the attack with 20 points. Japheth Bear and Jake Pilman also were in double figures with 11 and 10. Brian Emmerich added 5, while Jerry Howze and Taylor Kerner each scored a basket. Alex Frohning converted a free throw for the 1-4 Eagles in the Apollo and 8-5 overall. Jake Pilman led in rebounds with 6. Japheth Bear had 4 boards and also had 3 blocked shots. Alex Frohning led the Eagles in assists with 4. Brian Emmerich had 2 steals to spark the defense.
Effingham improved to 4-1 in the Apollo and 11-3 overall and were led by Cody McCollum's 20 points.
The Eagles junior varsity team evened their record at 3-3 winning the opener of the tripleheader, 58-50.
Last Tuesday, the Eagles opened the 2010 part of their schedule with a 52-43 loss to the Stew-Stras Comets at the NCHS gym. The game was close throughout after the Eagles took an early lead of 8-4 midway through the quarter. After Jake Pilman gave the Eagles a 10-6 edge, the Comets tied it at 10 to end the period. Neither team were on their game as Stew-Stras led 14-12 with 3:42 left. Eventually the Eagles regained the lead when Peyton Wyatt nailed a three with 1:45 left for a 17-16 edge.
However, the Comets scored the last seven points of the half to take a 23-17 margin into the locker room. Japheth Bear who led the Eagles with 17 points, scored 6 in the first half to lead the offense.
The Eagles picked up the pace in the third quarter after the Comets moved ahead 26-18 with 5:52 left. A Peyton Wyatt three and a Japheth Bear hoop cut the deficit to 3 at 26-23. A three point play by Will Rinker made it 29-23. Taylor Kerner answered with a basket, but S-S got a big three from Luke Rinker to make it 32-25. However, the Eagles scored the final two baskets of the quarter as Alex Frohning and Japheth Bear connected with Bear's shot beating the buzzer.
Down 32-29, the Eagles quickly tied it at 32 when Brian Emmerich connected on a long three from the corner. S-S quickly scored on the other end as Will Rinker put the Comets up 34-32. A basket and a foul shot on a three point play gave the Eagles back the lead at 35-34 with 6:35 left. It was the last lead of the night for Newton as Will Rinker nailed a three and free throws upped the difference to six at 43-37 with 2:31 remaining.
From that point, it was all free throws as S-S shot eight in the final two minutes to seal the win for the 10-2 Comets. The Eagles fell to 8-4.
The Eagles scored 18 field goals including three from behind the arc. They were a cool 4 of 10 from the line. Japheth Bear led Newton with 17. Peyton Wyatt scored 8. Alex Frohning added 6. Brian Emmerich and Jake Pilman each tossed in 5. Taylor Kerner had a basket.
Stew-Stras made 17 baskets including three from behind the arc. The difference came at the foul line where S-S was 15 of 23. S-S also won the junior varsity game 71-40 dropping the Eagles to 2-3 for the season. A.J. Hyatt led with 17. Dylan Casey had 7. Dylan Davidson scored 5. Derek Casey added 4. Jake Stone had a three pointer, while Scott Jansen and Landon Rauch each scored 2 points.
Lady Eagles fall to Effingham
By TERRY LIDY
As part of a triple header last Saturday at the NCHS gym due to a postponement, the NCHS Lady Eagles dropped an Apollo contest to the Effingham Hearts 42-25. It was the third time this season that the Lady Eagles had succumbed to Effingham. In this game, Effingham broke on top and scored the first two baskets before Amy Koebele sank a free throw with 5:51 left. The Lady Eagles were held scoreless from the field until the 1:02 mark when Amy Koebele scored inside to make it 8-3 in favor of the Hearts. The quarter ended when Megan Jansen sank a field goal after a Sam Zerrusen basket made the score read 10-5 after the initial quarter.
In the second period, the Lady Eagles closed to within three when Sydney May had a put back rebound shot to make it 10-7. However, Effingham scored the next two goals to double the Eagles at 14-7. Later Effingham had a 16-7 margin as Zerrusen scored. The Lady Eagles answered by scoring the final four points of the quarter as Morgan Swingler converted a free throw and Mallory Kocher drilled a long three-pointer with 40 seconds left to make the halftime score 16-11 as each team scored only 6 points in the quarter.
Effingham scored the first basket in the third period as Zerrusen made a three for a 19-11 edge. Newton answered with an Amy Koebele basket on a nice assist from Mallory Kocher. However, the Hearts scored the next 8 points to build a 27-13 that the Lady Eagles could not overcome.
Newton ended the streak when Amy Koebele sank a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left in the quarter to make it 27-15. Seconds later, a three pointer by Hayley Jamerson doubled the difference at 30-15. The Lady Eagles however scored the final basket of the period when Amy Koebele beat the clock as Newton trailed 30-17 after being outscored 14-6 in the quarter.
The Lady Eagles started the final period with a mini rally as they scored the first 5 points to narrow the gap to 30-22 forcing Effingham to call a timeout with 6:11 left. Terra Flowers drained a three from the right corner and Morgan Swingler scored in the lane. However, the Hearts recovered as Jamerson scored two consecutive baskets and Tatiana Colclasure scored to move ahead comfortably at 36-22. The Lady Eagles got their final basket on another long three pointer by Terra Flowers. Effingham then scored the game's final six points to seal the win at 42-25.
The Lady Eagles played solid defense and held Effingham to 34% shooting on 18 baskets. However, the Lady Eagles had their own problems making 9 field goals and shooting 20% for the night.
Newton was led by Amy Koebele with 9 points and 10 rebounds. Terra Flowers scored 6 points on two trifectas. Mallory Kocher also had a three pointer and three assists. Morgan Swingler added a basket and a free throw. Megan Jansen and Sydney May each scored a basket. Amy Bierman, who had 5 rebounds, along with Brianna Nail, Tara Wirth and Carly Niebrugge also saw action.
Looking for their first Apollo win, the Lady Eagles are now 0-8 in the conference and 4-13 overall.
Effingham improved to 3-5 in the Apollo and 8-7 overall. The Hearts were led by Sam Zerrusen with 15 points. Effingham made 18 baskets including two from behind the arc. They converted 4 of 4 from the foul line with 13 turnovers.
The Lady Eagles made 9 baskets including three from three point land. They added 4 of 6 charity tosses with 22 turnovers.
Last Tuesday, the Lady Eagles traveled to Altamont and were downed by the Lady Indians 62-32 in non-conference action. Altamont used a big second half to provide the difference. Newton trailed only 12-7 after one quarter and played Altamont more than even in the second period as the Lady Eagles trailed only 26-20 at the intermission. Then a 16-4 third quarter difference produced a 42-24 advantage going into the final eight minutes.
A 20 point output by Altamont sealed the Lady Eagles' fate in the final period. Altamont converted 15 free throws out of 20 attempts. Newton scored 10 baskets including a pair of treys. They converted 10 of 13 foul shots. Amy Koebele led Newton with 11 points. Terra Flowers was also in double figures with 10. Morgan Swingler added two baskets. Megan Jansen scored three from the foul line. Sydney May scored a basket and Carly Niebrugge converted a pair of free throws. Tara Wirth, Morgan Bergbower, Mallory Kocher, Brianna Nail, and Amy Bierman also saw action for the Lady Eagles.
Lady Eagles play Olney tough
By TERRY LIDY
Despite suffering their ninth Apollo loss, the NCHS Lady Eagles scored a moral victory as they battled the 7-2 Olney Lady Tigers all the way before succumbing 51-37 Monday at the NCHS gym.
"I am really proud of them in the way we fought back especially in the third and fourth quarters," said an excited Katie Lurkins on the progress of her young team. With only eleven players and all seeing junior varsity action, Lurkins was pleased with the competitiveness and stamina of her team.
For Olney now 16-5 for the season, it also extended the Lady Tigers winning streak to ten, but not after being pushed by Newton.
Olney led 9-6 after the first quarter as Megan Jansen scored twice and Amy Koebele added a basket for the Lady Eagles output.
Newton pulled even in the second period as Terra Flowers connected for three at the 4:05 mark at 11. Olney scored the next two hoops as Ebany Brumfield and Jennifer Luna made back to back shots before Terra Flowers nailed her second trey to make it 15-14. Brumfield and Gina Volk scored the final two baskets of the half as the Lady Eagles hung around at 19-14.
The third period produced even outputs for both teams as each garnered 13 points. Brianna Nail scored on a 12 footer, while Amy Koebele had a basket and a pair of free throws. Terra Flowers connected for her third three pointer, while Megan Jansen scored on a nice driving layup and Morgan Swingler converted a free throw as five Lady Eagles dented the scoring column as Olney held a 32-27 edge.
Olney scored the first two baskets in the final stanza as Brumfield and Volk made it 36-27 before Morgan Swingler scored for Newton. The Olney lead eventually reached double figures when Marissa Runyon made it 40-30 with 5:02 left. Two consecutive hoops by Volk made it 44-30 as Katie Lurkins called a timeout with 3:55 left. The Lady Eagles answered the challenge with consecutive baskets by Amy Koebele and Morgan Swingler to cut the deficit to 10 at 44-34. But that was the closest point the Lady Eagles were able to reach as Olney converted free throws in the final minute to prevail over a game bunch of Lady Eagles 51-37.
The Lady Eagles made 14 of 30 shots for 47% including three trifectas. They converted 6 of 13 free throws. Olney made 22 baskets including a three. They added 6 of 9 from the line.
Amy Koebele led Newton with 11 points. Terra Flowers scored 9 on three treys. Megan Jansen and Morgan Swingler each added 7. Brianna Nail had a basket and Mallory Kocher converted a free throw.
Taylor Stevensoon led Olney with 15. Ebany Brumfield had 13. Marissa Runyon scored 9. Gina Volk and Heather Ernst each added 6. Jennifer Luna scored a basket.
The Lady Eagles won the junior varsity match 35-29 as Amy Koebele scored 10 points. Terra Flowers had 5, Tara Wirth 4, Megan Jansen, Mallory Kocher and Amy Bierman each with 3, Sydney May and Carly Niebrugge each with 2, Brianna Nail and Morgan Bergbower played but did not score.
Newton, Ill. —
