Meanwhile, Centennial was pouring in shot after shot, especially senior guard Trae Warren. After scoring on its first possession of the period, the Chargers next five buckets came following an EHS turnover. Warren knocked three shots from behind the arc and scored 11 points, helping Centennial go on a 20-2 run in just three minutes to turn that three-point deficit into a 59-44 lead.

“That press was nothing we haven’t seen before,” said a very upset Obie Farmer after the game. “We faced that same zone press the night before in Lincoln. We just didn’t step up and play. We didn’t play basketball the way its supposed to be played. We didn’t even look like a varsity basketball team.”

The Hearts did whittle into that lead. After three-pointers from Wolfe and Brayden Pals, they were within 63-56. But the Chargers closed the game on a 15-5 run to finish with the 17-point victory. Warren scored 20 of his game-high 34 in those final eight minutes.

“The guys just didn’t show up that last quarter,” Farmer noted. “They had a little lead and put it on coast. You can’t do that in a varsity game. Thirty-nine points in the fourth quarter? I’ve never seen that before. It was embarrassing.”

Until that fourth period, the game was a tight one.

Estrada scored the first five points of the game, and after a three by Wolfe and a jumper by Pals, the Hearts owned a 10-3 edge five minutes into the contest. But the Chargers knocked down three from long range, including one from David Hubbard right before the buzzer, to end the quarter on a 10-2 run and take a slim 13-12 lead.

The lead changed hands six times in the second period. A three-point play by Pals put the Hearts up by three, 19-16, but the Chargers closed out the quarter strong. Warren’s late basket sent Centennial to the locker room with that same one-point advantage, 24-23, at intermission.

The Hearts were red hot shooting the ball in the third period, knocking down 8-of-10 attempts. Wolfe tallied nine points, while Estrada and Pals both added four. Effingham led by as many as five in the quarter and still owned a three-point edge heading into the final quarter.

“Through three quarters, we battled,” Farmer said. “We competed. We played basketball. Then we started turning the ball over and over and over. It’s hard to win when you give up six straight possessions.”

In addition to Warren’s 34 points, Hubbard added 15 and Gurmane Springfield scored 10.

Wolfe finished with 24 points to pace the Hearts. Pals and Estrada were also in double figures, scoring 18 and 11 respectively. Effingham shot pretty well, making 24-of-49 attempts, a 49 percent clip. They were 4-for-18 from three-point range and 9-of-11 from the foul line. They turned the ball over 18 times, with eight of those coming in the fourth quarter.

The Hearts dipped to 9-19 on the season. They will now play three games in the final week of the regular season – Monday at Mt. Vernon; Tuesday at Central A&M; and Thursday at home against Mt. Zion.