Published: February 06, 2010 12:17 am      

McCollum's 1000th highlights EHS win over Olney

It took just 41 seconds for Cody McCollum to end the small measure of suspense hanging over Friday's game at Effingham High School.

McCollum collected the first of his seven offensive rebounds on the Flaming Hearts' first possession of the evening, putting it back up and in to break the 1,000-point plateau and get EHS started on a 42-30 Apollo Conference boys basketball victory over Olney.

The 6-foot-2 senior came into Friday play with 999 career tallies and ended the night with a game high 16 points and also as the ninth boys player in EHS history to achieve the 1,000-point milestone.

"Cody has been such a consistent player for us," said EHS coach Ron Reed, whose leading scorer actually came up a bit shy of his season average Friday.

"So many times we just expect him to score 15, 20, 25 points, but people don't realize how hard it is to do what he does. It has taken a lot of work on his part."

Trailing 4-0 early on, Olney (16-8, 5-5) called a time out. In the meantime, McCollum was presented with the game ball as the strong contingent of home fans stood for a long ovation.

With his 16 points, McCollum actually moved to eighth on the boys program's all-time leading scorers list, passing 1968 graduate Gale Lister (1,012).

Chuck White (Class of 1975) is next on the list at 1,164, immediately behind 1968 alumnus Roger Arnold's total of 1,220. Mitch Arnold (Class of 1980) leads the list at 2,046.

McCollum didn't realize how close he was to 1,000 until Monday's practice session.

"Coach pulled me aside and told me I was only 24 points away," said McCollum, who put up 23 against Mount Zion earlier in the week.

Effingham (18-4, 9-1) led the low-scoring contest 8-6 after one quarter and trailed by 10-8 and 12-11 tallies early in the second quarter.

Olney pulled even for the last time at 14-14 on a driving layup from sophomore reserve Michael Fehrenbacher, who was a perfect 6-for-6 in racking up 12 of the Tigers' first 14 points.

McCollum answered that bucket with a deep three-pointer from the left wing, sparking a 9-0 EHS run to close the half.

The second-half margin never dissipated to fewer than a half-dozen, but Olney's physical effort also kept things from getting out of hand after the break.

"This was an awfully hard-fought win," said Reed, who also got nine points, six rebounds and three steals from senior forward Cole Morrow.

"Olney came out and played well — it seemed like we had to play an awful lot of defense. I feel this was really a quality win for us."

The Tigers certainly made some adjustments since their 50-27 home loss to the Hearts back on Dec. 8.

"(Olney) really spread the floor and cut well," said Reed, who is used to seeing more motion sets out of the Tigers. "They also did a lot of ball screening."

EHS handled Olney's offensive adjustments well, more or less sticking to its usual man-to-man approach with the exception of some situational zone sets.

On the other end, Flanagan, another man-to-man disciple, had his charges zoned up.

"We did a good job of handling all the different stuff they did to us," said Reed. "Rebounding was also a big difference in the game."

Indeed it was: Effingham held a 27-16 advantage on the boards, including a 13-5 edge on the offensive glass.

As a result, EHS scored 13 second-chance points to Olney's two. Turnovers really weren't a factor for either team, but the Hearts did score seven points off Tiger miscues.

Co-Apollo leader Robinson had its home date with Paris snowed out, leaving EHS alone atop the league standings by a half game with its ninth consecutive loop victory.

"For a group that won nine games last year, it's a neat thing to be able to double it this season," said Reed. "We're really a pretty balanced club.

"People really get after McCollum with box-and-ones and triangle-and-twos, but this team has really been able to help him out."

Effingham is back home Tuesday with Newton in town.

The Eagles led EHS for three quarters before falling 59-51 in a Jan. 9 home date, but are just 3-7 in the current league standings.

Dustin White can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 123 or dustin.white@effinghamdailynews.com.

At Effingham High School

OLNEY (30)

Bl. Pampe 1-8 2-2 5, VanGundy 0-1 0-0 0, Fehrenbacher 6-8 0-0 12, Schonert 1-7 0-1 2, Berry 3-8 1-2 9, Kabbes 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS 12-34 FG (35.3) 3-5 FT (60.0).

EFFINGHAM (42)

Cs. Green 2-5 0-0 6, McCollum 5-18 4-4 16, Tate 1-3 0-0 3, Morrow 4-6 1-2 9, Cd. Green 2-4 0-0 4, J. Wohltman 2-5 0-0 4. TOTALS 16-41 FG (39.0) 5-6 FT (83.3).

Olney-------6----8---8----8---—---30

Effingham---8---15---8---11---—---42

3-point FG — Olney 3-9 (Bl. Pame 1-3, Fehrenbacher 0-1, Berry 2-4, Kabbes 0-1), Effingham 5-14 (Cs. Green 2-5, McCollum 2-6, Tate 1-2, J. Wohltman 0-1). Rebounds — Olney 16 (Schonert 7), Effingham 27 (McCollum 8, Cd. Green 7, Morrow 6). Offensive Rebounds — Olney 5 (Schonert 2), Effingham 13 (McCollum 7). Team Rebounds — Olney 6 (3 offensive), Effingham 0. Total Fouls — Olney 11, Effingham 8. Fouled Out — None. Blocked Shots — Olney 1, Effingham 6 (J. Wohltman 3). Assists — Olney 4, Effingham 9 (Morrow 3). Steals — Olney 2 (Bl. Pampe 2), Effingham 8 (Morrow 3). Turnovers — Olney 10, Effingham 7. Officials — S. Breuchaud, N. Finck, B. Frey.

Junior Varsity

Olney------12----3---15---14---—---44

Effingham---8---15---14---16---—---53

Olney — Eagleson, 6; Br. Pampe, 9; Totten, 9; Stallard, 4; Hake, 5; Phillips, 11

Effingham — Gardewine, 8; Steppe, 11; Walsh, 6; H. Keith, 10; Johnson, 2; Aldora, 4; Martin, 10; Lustig, 2