Jeff Schafer would best describe his team’s performance on Friday night as one eerily similar to being on a roller-coaster.
There were ups and downs the entire evening.
Effingham, however, was the one grounded once the game ended, as the Flaming Hearts (20-11) fell to Mattoon, 56-54, in a Class 3A regional final at Mattoon High School.
“We were too much of a roller-coaster ride tonight. We did a great job of coming back and having a chance to win; we tried to speed the game up a little bit more toward the end and it worked, but we couldn’t ever seem to turn it into baskets,” Schafer said.
Effingham started the game trailing by five, 15-10, at the end of the first quarter.
Greenwave junior Ella Conyers started the contest with a three-pointer to put Mattoon up 3-0.
The Hearts then responded with the next four points after back-to-back layups by Bria Beals and Madison Mapes that made it 4-3.
Lily Ghere then hit a layup to cut the Effingham lead to 6-5 with 4:18 left before Marissa Allie made a layup with 3:18 to go, pushing the margin back to three.
Alyssa Martin then added a layup to make it 10-5 before the Greenwave closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to take the five-point lead.
Mapes then cut into that lead to start the second frame after hitting a three-pointer that made it 15-13.
Conyers then responded with a long-range try of her own that made it 18-13 before a Beals three-pointer made it 18-16.
Allie then tied the game after a layup with five minutes left before Beals gave the Hearts the lead, 20-18, with 3:19 remaining, following a layup.
Ghere, however, answered with a three-pointer that made it 21-20 in favor of Mattoon.
The Greenwave ended the first half ahead by one point, 25-24. They also head by five, 43-38, at the end of the third.
Emily Maple started the third by drilling a three-pointer to make it 28-24.
Maple then hit another three later in the period, making it 33-26.
Effingham continued to hang around, though, cutting the lead down to four points, 36-32, with three minutes left following a Sidney Donaldson layup.
Mattoon would then increase its lead further, making it a nine-point game after Ghere hit a floater with 1:16 left.
Ghere finished with 21 points. Maple had a game-high 23.
The Greenwave made six three-pointers. All six, though, felt like they came at the most crucial junctures of the game.
Schafer, though, knew what Mattoon would bring to the table. Effingham had beaten the Greenwave in the two prior meetings during the year.
“We just wanted two feet on the green line and we didn’t always have two feet on the green line,” Schafer said. “We did a good job guarding them off the dribble; they didn’t get to the basket too often.”
For the game, Maple and Ghere were the only two Mattoon players to record double-figures in scoring.
As for the Hearts, Mapes and Martin were their only two double-digit players, finishing with 11 each.
“It was very nerve-racking going in, but once I started going, I started getting in my groove and I tried to lift my teammates a little bit when we got done,” Martin said.
Beals joined Olivia Moser with seven points on the night.
Moser scored all of her points in the fourth quarter.
Moser started the period by scoring the first five points. She completed a three-point play and hit a layup that made it a two-point game, 45-43.
Schafer said that Moser has been “patiently waiting” for her opportunity and delivered when her team needed it.
“She’s been waiting there patiently for a while. She was in there, playing a lot more, then Sidney came back and then Alyssa started playing well for us; it just made it a mess a little bit, but it’s nice to have the depth,” Schafer said. “Hopefully, she’ll use that to springboard to next year.”
Effingham will lose seven seniors off the roster next year.
Schafer divided all seven into groups.
The first group consisted of twins Riley and Abby Cunningham and Lily Wise.
“The three that didn’t get to play hardly at all; I’m so proud of them,” Schafer said. “They wanted to be a part of it. It’s not Abby and Riley’s main sport; sometimes, those kids can do more damage than be positive.”
The next group consists of one player: Taylor Greene.
“Taylor Greene was the one in the middle; she got to play right in between those three and the three that got to play all the time, but Taylor is like a bright light; she’s so positive,” Schafer said. “When she walks into a room, she makes the room better.”
The final group consists of Ella Niebrugge, Allie and Mapes.
“Marissa Allie is 5-foot-4 and plays like she’s 6-foot-1,” Schafer said. “The guts that kid has; I was glad to see her play so well tonight. Madison is our scorer, ballhandler, and passer. I don’t think she came off the floor tonight. (Mapes) shot over 40 percent from three-point range while doing all that and that’s one of the highest percentages we’ve had, and then Ella was our heart and soul. She was our lifeline, our energy; she brought it every night and never backed down from anybody. I call her my ‘silent thunder’ because she looks too quiet out there.”
Of all the seniors, Mapes was the one that took it the hardest.
Mapes reflected on her time with the basketball program afterward.
“Coach Schafer and I have had a history. That sophomore-junior year, we went through a lot together and it got much easier this senior year,” Mapes said. “He became more and more proud of me and knew he had it in me to become the player I am today.
“I love Effingham basketball and I wish this wasn’t my last year. I’m glad I had the four years that I had. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Mattoon 15 10 18 13 56 Effingham 10 14 14 16 54
E – Madison Mapes 11, Ella Niebrugge 4, Saige Althoff 6, Bria Beals 7, Marissa Allie 6, Sidney Donaldson 2, Olivia Moser 7, Alyssa Martin 11. FG 22, FT 4-7, F 15. (3-pointers: Mapes 1, Beals 1).