As expected, the game wasn’t close. Wolfe converted a turnover into a score and Nate Thompson connected on the first of his four 3-pointers to put EHS on top midway through the opening quarter and the rout was on. Brayden Pals turned in a three-point play at the end of the period, putting the Hearts on top, 21-11.

It was 26-16 in the second quarter when Effingham went on a 16-3 scoring run. Nate Thompson connected twice from behind the arc and scored eight points, while Wolfe added six during the surge, increasing the Hearts lead to 42-19. Tolono Unity scored the last eight points of the first half to close within 44-27.

The EHS defense, which included the unveiling of some full-court pressure early in the game, forced the Rockets into 16 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

“I thought we played hard and with some good energy,” said EHS coach Obie Farmer. “We did try to run a press a little. I wanted to see how it would work and we did okay. But we gave layups a couple times and I don’t like that. So we pulled it off.

“We wanted to pick up the tempo tonight, so we wanted to pressure the ball as much as we could,” Farmer added. “We were out of position a couple times and gave up a few easy baskets. But we’ll get that fixed in practice.”

If there was any doubt as to the outcome, Drew Thompson took care of that in the third quarter. The junior guard canned four 3-point shots in a row, netting 12 of his 17 total points, and the margin continued to expand. Heading into the final eight minutes, the Hearts held a commanding 69-35 advantage.

And since the gap was more than 30 points, the “mercy rule” kicked in and the clock ran continuously the entire fourth period.

Effingham launched a total of 31 shots from behind the arc and Farmer was okay with that “as long as they come in the natural flow of our offense.”

Drew Thompson was 5-for-12 from long range, while Nate Thompson was 4-for-9 and Wolfe 0-for-7.

 “When you’re running against a 2-3 zone like we were tonight, there are going to open looks on the perimeter,” Farmer noted. “Nate, Drew and Parker are excellent shooters. If they’re open, I want them to take those shots.”

The EHS coach was also pleased with the low number of turnovers his team had, which was just nine.

“Anything under 10 is good,” Farmer said. “I was happy with only having nine, especially since we tried to pick the tempo up. But, they (Unity) didn’t really try to come out and guard us.”

For the game, the Hearts shot 38 percent overall, connecting on 24-of-64 attempts. They were 9-of-31 from three-point range and 14-of-18 from the foul stripe. Effingham forced 24 turnovers on defense.

The win sets up the annual Effingham vs. St. Anthony contest with a trip to Saturday night’s championship game on the line. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Both teams are 2-0 in tourney play after a pair of lopsided victories.

“We might have to slow things down a bit against St. Anthony’s zone,” Farmer said. “We will want to play our game and not let them dictate what we do. But we’ll have to be strong with the basketball.”