It was more of the same in the second quarter.

Alyssa Martin made a free throw and then a short jumper to ignite a 10-0 scoring spree. Olivia Moser and Wolfe followed with baskets and Martin then converted a steal into a layup to make it a 21-point bulge, 25-4, at the 4:18 mark.

It was a 22-point spread, 31-9, when the two teams went to the locker room at intermission.

“We jumped out on them early and then never let up,” Schafer said. “Our ball movement in the first half was exceptional. I don’t know how it could have been better. If someone got open, they got the ball.”

It was a 24-point lead midway through the third period when Bria Beals drilled a three from the corner, Donaldson scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and Mya Harvey made a pair of foul shots. That gave EHS its largest lead of the game, a 31-point margin, 45-14. It was a 25-point gap, 45-20, heading into the fourth quarter.

Martin and Donaldson led Effingham in scoring, finishing with 11 and 10 points respectively. The Lady Hearts made 20-of-49 shots overall, a 41 percent clip. They were 4-for-11 from three-point range and 9-for-13 at the foul line. They owned a 33-18 rebounding advantage, with both Althoff and Donaldson pulling down seven boards.

The Lady Hearts improved to 25-4 overall. They will be back in action tonight (Thursday) with an Apollo Conference road game at Mt. Zion. Effingham is 6-3 in league play.

Then it will be postseason time. The Lady Hearts are the No. 2 seed in the Salem Regional and will open play at 6 p.m. Monday against either Salem or Troy Triad.

“I feel good about our team, but there are a lot of good teams in our regional,” Schafer said. “Any of the teams could win the region. It will boil down to whoever plays the best.”