The Effingham Lady Hearts built a first-quarter lead and maintained it throughout, finishing with a 56-44 win Monday night at Neoga.

Meredith Schaefer connected on a pair of threes and scored eight points and Sawyer Althoff added six more, helping the Little Hearts take a 21-15 lead after the opening eight minutes. It was a seven-point cushion at halftime, 34-27.

Effingham was on top, 41-35, heading into the final period and then outscored the Lady Indians 15-9 to secure the win. Ella Niebrugge knocked down a three and scored seven points in that fourth quarter to help EHS expand its lead.

Schaefer finished with a game-high 19 points, while Niebrugge finished with 14.

“This was a great game,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “Both teams really battled hard.”

The Lady Hearts improved to 12-5 on the season. They travel to Paris on Thursday.