Nolan Fearday and Max Flack both hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 36-36, but freshman Bryce Bohnhoff made a tough shot in the lane to put Dieterich on top to stay. A jumper by Lucas Westendorf and a pair of foul shots by Niemerg made it a five-point spread, 42-37, at the 1:14 mark.

Jude Traub hit a three from the corner to get the Hearts within 42-20, by Tanner Will made four straight free throws to make it a six-point margin with only 28 ticks left.

Largely thanks to the shooting of Traub, the Hearts led throughout the opening half. The sophomore knocked down three shots from behind the arc and scored 11 points to help EHS take an 11-7 lead after the first period.

Cannon Bockhorn came off the bench to connect on a three-pointer, Traub scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and Ethan Jones tallied three points. It was a five-point margin until Jake Niebrugge scored four points in the final 30 seconds – a pair of free throws and a layup as the buzzer was going off – sending the Hearts to the locker room with a 23-14 advantage.

“I thought Traub did some good things at the offensive end in that first half. We need a few more guys to step up and do that, too,” Thompson said. “I also thought we did a good job of limiting their (Dieterich’s) opportunities.

“But we still didn’t play that well offensively,” the EHS coach added. “Plus, we had too many turnovers (9), allowed three offensive putbacks and gave up at least one steal that led to a layup. We could have been up by 14 or 16 points. But we were unable to extend it.”

Westendorf had 12 points and Will added 11 – all from the free throw line – to lead the Maroons, who improved to 15-3 for the season. They connected on 14-of-43 shots, a 33 percent clip. They were 4-for-14 from long range and 17-of-26 from the foul line. They had just nine turnovers.

Traub finished with a game-high 18 points, but was the only EHS player in double figures. The Hearts shot 43 percent overall, making 13-of-30 attempts. They were 5-for-10 from three-point range and 11-for-16 at the free throw line. Effingham had 22 turnovers.

The Hearts fell to 6-14. They will return to action tonight (Wednesday) at the Salem Invitational Tournament, facing Centralia at 7:30 p.m.