Two free throws and a three from Splechter increase the EHS margin to five, 42-37, at the 5:05 mark. But the Spartans got a three-pointer from Erhan Osmani and a three-point play plus a bucket after a rebound from Eduardo Chiquito to back in front, 45-44, with 3:19 still remaining.
But the final three minutes was all Effingham. Splechter had four free throws, Garrett Wolfe added a three-point play and another foul shot and Brown scored four points, as the Hearts outscored the Spartans 11-1 down the stretch to finish with the nine-point victory and complete tournament play with a 2-2 mark.
Effingham outscored Oak Lawn 24-11 in the fourth period and 35-17 in the second half. Another factor was a defensive switch at halftime.
“We moved Andrew to No. 0 (Corey Lee),” Farmer explained. “That kid was really quick, but Andrew’s length bothered him. He did a great job. That kid only got one point the second half.
“And overall, we got after them more defensively in the second half,” the EHS coach added. “They like to attack and then dish out to one of their three-point shooters. We cut off their drives in the second half and were just more aggressive.”
Things didn’t look nearly as good in the first 16 minutes. The Hearts didn’t shoot well and had difficulty defending Oak Lawn’s offensive attack.
Lee scored eight quick points, plus Ayham Salah – an all-tournament selection – and Chiquito both knocked down three-pointers. The Spartans built a 12-point lead before Wolfe drained his third shot from long range in the opening quarter to get EHS within 20-11.
The Spartans maintained a double-digit lead for much of the second period. But Splechter scored seven pointrs in the final two minutes to get Effingham within 29-20 at intermission.
“We didn’t understand how well they could get to the basket,” Farmer said. “Early on, they did whatever they wanted to do. I felt only being down nine at halftime was a blessing.”
The Spartans shot a torrid 75 percent in the opening quarter, connecting on 9-of-12 shots. But they cooled off after that big-time. After scoring 20 points in the first eight minutes, they scored just 26 points the final 24 minutes. Over those final three periods, they made just 10-of-44 attempts. And it was worse in the second half. They were 6-for-33, a frigid 18 percent clip.
Chiquito had 14 points and both Lee and Salah scored 11 for Oak Lawn, who finished 1-3 in the tourney and in 8th place.
Splechter finished with a game-high 24 points. Wolfe scored 18 points and Brown almost reached double figures for a second straight game, ending with nine. The Hearts shot 41 percent overall, connecting on 17-of-41 attempts. They were 4-for-13 from long range and 17-for-24 from the foul stripe.
The Hearts improved to 6-9 on the season and finished tournament play at 2-2.
“I’m very happy to get two wins,” Farmer said. “We were in all four games and could have won all four. The level of competition in this tournament is always top-notch. You know you’re going to get tested. These four games showed us a lot of things; things we need to work on. I’m very pleased with how we played.”
Effingham will return to action Tuesday at Olney.
Here is a recap of the other early games Friday.
Knoxville 45; Belvidere 44 (OT)
Belvidere rallied from an eight-point deficit to force overtime, but the Knoxville Blue Bullets managed to eke out a 45-44 win in the extra session.
Braden Downs scored 22 points for Knoxville, who got its first win of the tournament. Jason Dean had 13 points, while Kyle Jensen scored 12 and Ryan Beaudet added 10 for the Bucs, who went winless in their four games.
Charleston 59; Mattoon 45
The Charleston Trojans jumped out to a quick lead and were never headed in its 59-45 win over Mattoon.
The Trojans built a 19-8 lead after the first eight minutes and then used 19-6 scoring spree in the third period to put the game away.
Will Applegate led the Trojans with 16 points, while Luke Bonnstetter scored 13 and Caleb Oakley added 11. Christian Larson had a game-high 19 points for the Green Wave.
Charleston finished 2-2 in the tournament, while Mattoon was 1-3.
Newton 59; Dixon 53
Kyle Bergbower scored 21 points and led the Newton Eagles to a 59-53 win over Dixon.
The game was close throughout. Newton outscored Dixon 14-8 in the third quarter to break a 28-28 halftime tie.
In addition to Bergbower, two other Eagles were also in double figures. Dylan Gier had 17 points and Caden Nichols added 14. Darius Harrington led Dixon with 14 points, while Wyatt Wetzell and Austin Hicks had 12 and 11 points respectively.
Newton was 2-2 in tourney play, while Dixon finished 1-3.
