Over the final three minutes, Alyssa Martin hit a jumper, Saige Althoff made a pair of free throws and Averie Wolfe connected from long range, helping the Lady Hearts tie the game, 11-11, at the end of the first period.

The game was close throughout. But when Bella Austin grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to put Effingham on top 15-13, the Lady Hearts never trailed again. And when Bria Beals came up with a steal and converted it into a layup at the end of the second quarter, EHS took a 23-19 advantage to the locker room.

Another key to the game was the patience Effingham showed on offense.

“We’ve been talking a lot about taking good shots,” Schafer said. “A month ago, we wouldn’t have been this patient. We would have gotten antsy and fired up some bad shots. The girls are realizing bad shots result in wasted possessions. In a game like this, you can’t have those.”

After Anderson scored to open the second half, Althoff countered with a basket, followed by another from Austin and a free throw by Wolfe to open a 28-22 margin. It was 28-24 heading into the final period.

After making just 10-of-30 shots in the first three quarters, the Lady Hearts were much more efficient in the final eight minutes, converting 5-of-7 attempts.

Martin hit a jumper and then Austin drilled one from behind the arc to give EHS a nine-point cushion, 33-24, at the 6:06 mark. Three-pointers by Addy Rotz and Anderson, countered by a three from Beals, got the Lady Braves to within 37-33 with 2:57 remaining.

But Mt. Zion didn’t score again. Wolfe scored on a drive to the basket and Austin and Althoff then sealed the win by hitting four free throws in the final minute.

“We ran a nice set for Alyssa to start the quarter, which kind of set the tone,” Schafer said. “After that, the girls made some good cuts to the basket. I told the girls to keep attacking, but we also showed good patience. We’ve been working hard on our offense.”

The Anderson-Turner duo entered the game averaging a combined 34 points. Anderson is the all-time leading scorer for the girls program and averages 20 points. They were limited to 18 by that Effingham defense. Anderson had 14 of those.

The Lady Hearts had two players in double figures. Austin led the way with 11 points and Beals added 10. Effingham shot 40 percent for the game, connecting on 15-of-37 attempts. They were 2-for-8 from behind the arc and 11-of-16 from the foul line. Despite the size disadvantage, EHS held a 24-17 rebounding edge with Martin and Austin both pulling down six.

Effingham improved to 16-3 on the season and 3-2 in the Apollo. The Lady Hearts will have another big conference game Tuesday when they play host to league-leading Taylorville. The Lady Tornadoes will enter the game with a 15-3 overall mark and 5-0 in the conference.