The Effingham Lady Hearts turned in a strong second half performance Tuesday, rallying from a halftime deficit to post a 53-38 victory over Flora in their second game of the Bob Kerans Thanksgiving Tournament in Newton.

Flora held a 28-21 advantage at halftime, but the Lady Hearts erased that, outscoring the Wolfgals 32-10 in the second half.

“This was a tale of two halves,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “I give our kids a lot of credit. They hung in there after going through a tough first half. Our defense was awful in the first half, but we really got after it in the second half. We have to learn to play four quarters.”

Ella Niebrugge and Taylor Armstrong helped keep EHS within striking distance in the opening half and then Katie Carie, Callie Feldhake and Annie Frost sparked the second half comeback.

“We got contributions from just about everyone in the second half,” Schafer noted.

Niebrugge, Armstrong and Feldhake each scored 11 points to pace the Lady Hearts, while Frost scored 9 and Carie added 8.

Effingham, now 1-1 in the tourney and 2-1 overall, will return to action tonight (Wednesday). The Lady Hearts will face Vandalia at 6:30 p.m. They will play their final tourney game at 1:30 Friday against Newton.