About a minute later –at the 3:19 mark – Hayden Wendling hit a short jumper and Ethan Jones followed with a nice drive to the basket for a score that increased the lead to 50-45 with 2:53 still remaining.

“The last two minutes of this game seemed like it lasted a half hour,” Farmer admitted.

The Wildcats missed their final 10 shots and didn’t score a single point in the final four minutes. Wendling hit a free throw and Nolan Fearday scored on another drive to the basket, securing the Hearts third victory of the season.

“When Wendling scored and Jonesey took the ball to the basket, I thought that really helped,” Farmer said. “I thought the kids regained some confidence after that.”

The game started off very well for Effingham. OPH turned the ball over seven times in the first eight minutes. KJ Kellams and Wade Bushur both connected on three-point shots and the Hearts built a 10-2 lead a little over two minutes into the game.

But the Wildcats forced EHS into six turnovers and trimmed the lead to 17-16 by the end of the quarter. It was a close game the rest of the way. It was tied 24-24 at halftime.

OPH held a 29-26 lead early in the third quarter when Rylan Pals delivered back-to-back-to-back three-point shots for the Hearts. The third one came at the 5:04 mark and put EHS on top 35-33 and the Hearts never trailed again.

“Those were huge shots for us,” Farmer said. “We knew No. 34 (Graydon Kincaid) never leaves the lane. There aren’t many Class 1A players that can shoot the three, but Rylan can. We ran some plays specifically for him. In fact, we ran them three or four times in a row. And Rylan stepped out and knocked them down.”

That third three ignited a 14-5 run. Wendling scored six points during that run and Cannon Bockhorn connected on a shot from behind the arc. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Hearts owned a 46-38 advantage.

Sophomore Riley Blank led OPH with 16 points. The Wildcats connected on 32 percent of their shots, making 17-of-53 attempts. They were 4-for-17 from three-point range and 7-for-10 at the foul line. They held a 27-24 rebounding advantage, but turned the ball over 16 times.

Wendling led all scorers with 17 points and Pals finished with nine. The Hearts were 19-of-54 from the floor, a 35 percent clip. They were 7-for-22 from long range and 8-for-10 at the foul line. Jones had a game-high seven rebounds.

The Hearts improved to 3-22 on the season. They will be off until Thursday, Feb. 1, when they will host Mattoon in an Apollo Conference contest.