Basketball Game Preview: Effingham Hearts vs. Mt. Vernon Rams

The Effingham Hearts and the Mt. Vernon Rams will face off at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played.

On Friday, Effingham was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 41-37 to Mahomet-Seymour. The Hearts have struggled against the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.

Meanwhile, Mt. Vernon entered their tilt with Centralia on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They came out on top against the Orphans by a score of 50-41. The 50-point effort marked the Rams' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Effingham's defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 3-6. As for Mt. Vernon, they pushed their record up to 4-2 with the win, which was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season.

Effingham was taken down by Mt. Vernon 75-21 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mt. Vernon's Cale Ryan Maurer, who went 6 of 7 on his way to 12 points and six rebounds. Now that Effingham knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.