It didn’t take long to be reminded just how tough the Apollo Conference is.

After opening the season with seven straight wins, the Effingham Lady Hearts played this week against the two teams most believe to be the two best in the Apollo.

After falling to Mattoon on Thursday, Effingham faced another tough test Saturday, and the result was a 58-36 setback at home against Mahomet-Seymour.

The Lady Hearts got off to a better start Saturday. After falling behind 14-0 and 24-4 early against Mattoon, the EHS girls battled the Lady Bulldogs on even terms in the first quarter.

Sawyer Althoff scored four points and Effingham trailed by just one point, 9-8, after the initial eight minutes. But Mahomet-Seymour controlled things from there. The guests built a 26-17 lead at halftime and increased the advantage to 43-27 after three quarters.

Meredith Schaefer led the Lady Hearts with 11 points, while Althoff added eight.

Effingham dipped to 7-2 overall and 1-2 in the Apollo Conference. The Lady Hearts will travel to Charleston on Tuesday and will then play Thursday at St. Anthony.