The Effingham Lady Hearts got another big win Thursday night and Jeff Schafer moved a step closer to a coaching milestone.

In what Schafer described as a “battle royale,” the Lady Hearts posted a hard-fought 45-40 Apollo Conference victory at Mattoon.

“We played really hard and just gutted it out,” Schafer said about his team’s performance.

The Lady Hearts trailed by three points, 20-17, at intermission. They came out and scored the first four points of the second half to take the lead and it remained a two to five-point spread the rest of the contest.

Ella Niebrugge had seven points in the third quarter and EHS held a slim two-point edge, 34-32, heading into the final eight minutes. Saige Althoff knocked down a three and scored five points, and Madison Mapes, Averie Wolfe and Marissa Allie all had a pair, helping Effingham secure the win down the stretch.

“Everyone contributed,” Schafer said. “We had six different players score at least two times in the second half. Our help defense, led by Marissa Allie, was probably the difference in the game. This was just a real hard-fought win for us. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort.”

Niebrugge finished with 14 points to pace the Lady Hearts. Allie scored eight and Mapes, Althoff and Bria Beals each had seven. Beals led the team with eight rebounds and Mapes dished out five assists.

For Schafer, it was win No. 456 in his coaching career. He is now just two victories away from tying Jim Maxedon for the most wins ever by an Effingham coach.

The Lady Hearts improved to 7-1 on the season and are now 2-0 in league play. They will be right back in action tonight (Friday) with another conference game at Mahomet-Seymour.