The Effingham Hearts will take on the Taylorville Tornadoes at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Effingham has three straight wins, Taylorville has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
On Wednesday, Effingham made easy work of Mt. Vernon and carried off a 68-42 victory. The Hearts have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 26 points or more this season.
Meanwhile, Taylorville suffered their closest loss since December 21, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Springfield by a score of 49-46. While losing is never fun, the Tornadoes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 340th, while the Senators are ranked 140th).
Effingham will need to focus on slowing down Baileigh Wernz, one of several Taylorville players who made an impact when they last played. She posted 11 points and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Peyton Demichael, who put up five points and four steals.
Effingham's win bumped their record up to 15-2. As for Taylorville, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-11.
Effingham ended up a good deal behind Taylorville when the teams last played back in January of 2025, losing 55-41. Will the Hearts have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
