The Hearts then called three timeouts over the next 50 seconds.

“We were down three with limited time left,” Farmer explained. “We called three different plays during those timeouts. We either didn’t get to the right spot or their defense took the play away from us.”

On its final possession, the Hearts turned the ball over and Olney’s Zecheriah Wease made a free throw with two seconds to play that sealed the win and improved the Tigers to a perfect 15-0 this season.

“It’s tough right now,” Farmer admitted. “The kids are upset about the losing and who can blame them? Losing stinks. We’re so close. If we could just capitalize on one more possession per quarter, things could be different. I’m proud of how hard these kids play. They know how close they are to winning some of these games.”

Things looked bright for EHS at the beginning. Ritz drilled a pair of shots from behind the arc and Wolfe added another three, as the Hearts broke out to an 8-0 lead in the opening 2½ minutes. The Tigers closed to within four, but Ritz added a short jumper and another from long range to give the hosts a nine-point edge, 13-4. It was 13-6 after the first eight minutes.

A bucket by Estrada gave Effingham another nine-point cushion at 17-8 and after three straight buckets by Brayden Pals, the Hearts were still up by eight later in the first half. But three turnovers in the final minute of the half allowed the Tigers to get within four, 23-19, at intermission.

“Our intensity was good that first half,” Farmer said. “We were assertive on offense and strong on defense. I felt we could’ve been up by more at halftime. But we blew a couple defensive coverages and had a couple turnovers. We could have been up by 10 or 12 points.”

Travis had a three-point play and sophomore Ian Winkler hit a jumper to give Olney its first lead of the game, 24-23, to open the third period. Jeff Volpi had a couple buckets and Estrada made a three from the corner that put EHS back on top, 30-28. But the Tigers converted two late turnovers into baskets by Drew Blank and Winkler to take a 32-30 edge into the final eight minutes.

“We had too many turnovers tonight, with the majority of them being in the second half,” Farmer said. “When they brought some pressure, we showed a lack of toughness. We started to fold and panic a little. We didn’t take care of the ball and we started to force some things. That’s one of our weaknesses.”

The Hearts scored just 14 points in the final two quarters. They turned the ball over eight times and took just 14 shots in the final 16 minutes.

“We did a lot of things right tonight, but we turned the ball over too much,” Farmer noted. “We out-rebounded them and held their leading scorer to well below his average. But we gave up too many possessions, which resulted in not taking many shots. It’s hard to win that way.”

Travis, a 6’5” senior who averages 22 points a game, was limited to 13 points.

“Our game plan was to take him away,” Farmer explained. “He’s the biggest piece of their offense. We face-guarded him and forced him out of the lane. For the most part, we did a good a job on him.”

Ritz was the lone double-figure scorer for the Hearts, finishing with 15 points.

“Ethan is steadily getting better,” Farmer said. “He works hard and takes good shots. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s been a big lift for us.”

The Hearts shot 43 percent overall, connecting on 16-of-37 shots. They were 5-for-16 from long range and 0-for-1 from the foul line. They had 15 turnovers.

The Tigers made 16-of-40 shots, a 40 percent clip. They were 2-for-14 from three-point range and 7-for-12 from the charity stripe. They had eight turnovers.

The Hearts are now 4-11 overall. They will play an Apollo Conference game Friday night at Mt. Zion.