The EHS advantage was 20-7 after the first quarter. Volpi then drilled two more from long range to open the second period and expand the gap to 19 points. It was still a 19-point bulge at intermission, 38-19.

“I kept waiting for us to cool down, but it never came,” Farmer said. “We hit a little lull in the third quarter, but they weren’t scoring so it didn’t hurt us.”

If the Eagles entertained any thoughts of a comeback, that was thwarted early in the second half. Ritz opened the third period with a three and the Hearts still owned a 43-25 advantage midway through the quarter. Then Wolfe hit a short jumper that started a 15-0 scoring run.

Volpi and Wolfe both hit threes during that spree and Brayden Pals added a couple baskets inside, ballooning the margin to 33 points, 58-25.

While the EHS offense was virtually unstoppable, Farmer also talked about his team’s defense.

“I thought our intensity on the defensive end was stellar,” he noted. “We’ve been preaching energy and intensity on defense and the kids brought that tonight. I thought our quickness and physicality also played a role, plus Brayden and Ethan altered a lot of shots inside.

“I was really worried about this game,” Farmer added. “Newton is very quick, they like to set a lot of screens and they shoot the ball well. But we really pressured them and didn’t let them get set.”

He also credited Fox for his defensive effort against Newton’s Evan Schafer, who was held to just two points.

“I think he’s averaging close to 20 points a game,” Farmer said. “They like to run their offense through him, but Dalton was aggressive and physical with him. He probably doesn’t see a lot of that in their conference.”

The way the Hearts were shooting the ball, it may not have made a difference. They connected on 26-of-39 shots overall and were 11-of-18 from behind the arc. Volpi had five threes, while Ritz knocked down three, Wolfe two and Fox one.

Newton, on the other hand, was ice cold. The Eagles shot 27 percent overall, connecting on just 13-of-48 attempts. They were 2-for-13 from long range, a 15 percent clip.

The Hearts had a balanced scoring attack, placing four players in double figures. Volpi led the way with 19 points, while Wolfe, Ritz and Pals each had 12. Effingham also owned a 24-15 rebounding edge, with Pals and Ritz both pulling down eight and Wolfe grabbed seven.

The Hearts are now 6-11 overall. They will return to action Thursday night with an Apollo Conference game at Taylorville. EHS is 1-4 in league play.