“That’s a style of play we haven’t seen a whole lot of,” said EHS coach Obie Farmer following the contest. “They are very quick and athletic. My hat’s off to them. That’s probably the hardest ball pressure we’ve seen this year and it caused us problems.”

But, as they did the entire game, the Hearts never gave up or stopped playing hard.

The final 2½ minutes of the first period proved that. Hayden Wendling scored after grabbing an offensive rebound, Wade Bushur made a pair of fouls hots and KJ Kellams connected on a three-pointer to cap a 9-1 run and helped EHS close to within 20-13 at the close of the opening eight minutes.

But more turnovers to open the second quarter sparked a responding run by the Redbirds. Stampley, again, led the way. He converted a pair of the miscues into baskets, including another from behind the arc. Alton turned yet two more turnovers into backets, capping a 13-3 scoring spree that increased the margin to 33-16 midway through.

At intermission, it was a 16-point spread, 40-24, and Stampley had torched the nets for 21 points.

If there were any hopes of a comeback, the Redbirds squashed that in the opening minutes of the second half. They ran off the first seven points to expand the gap to 23 points. After Adam Flack hit a free throw and Bushur and Flack scored back-to-back buckets, the Hearts were within 18, but they were unable to get closer than that the remainder of the way.

Alton led 56-33 heading into the fourth quarter and EHS was able to connect on just one field goal in the final period.

The Redbirds, who had lost three straight and five of their last six games, improved to 16-13 on the season. Stampley led them in scoring with a game-high 23 points.

The Hearts got seven points from Nolan Fearday and Kellams. Bushur finished with a game-high 13 rebounds. Effingham shot 32 percent overall, connecting on 12-of-38 attempts. They made 3-of-10 from behind the arc and 8-of-14 at the foul line. The Hearts outrebounded Alton 41-27, but turned the ball over 28 times.

“I was proud of how the kids never gave up,” Farmer said. “This is a Metro East team that plays a strong schedule. But our kids never backed down and fought hard the whole game. I think that shows growth in this team.”

The Hearts dipped to 3-26 overall. They will return to action Thursday night with a home game against Mt. Zion. It will be the Apollo Conference and regular season finale.