The Lady Eagles owned a five-point lead, 32-37, entering the fourth period. Effingham cut the lead to a single point four different times, the last time being 41-40 with one minute to play. The Lady Hearts forced a turnover with 29 seconds left, but then turned the ball back over to Newton 13 seconds later.

Newton’s Eliza Bierman made a free throw with 14 seconds to go, but Effingham was unable to get off a shot in the final seconds.

“I thought we played very good defense, but you have to score, too. We didn’t execute very well at the end,” Schafer said. “You need to relish those situations and want to be in those situations. You want players that will demand the ball and want to make the pass or take the shot. Instead, we were standing and watching at the end.”

The Lady Hearts played from behind much of the game. Brooke Jansen made three shots from behind the arc in the opening eight minutes that staked the Lady Eagles to a 15-5 lead after the first quarter.

It was still a 10-point spread, 21-11, when Effingham’s full-court pressure started causing Newton problems. The Lady Eagles turned the ball over four times in the final three minutes of the first half and the Lady Hearts took advantage, scoring the final nine points.

Hayley Diveley started the comeback with a pair of free throws. Following back-to-back turnovers, Annie Frost hit a short jumper and Ella Niebrugge added a free throw. Taylor Armstrong then connected on a 3-pointer and Sawyer Althoff made a free throw with just two seconds left to get EHS within 21-20 at intermission.

“Our press disrupted them and got us back in the ballgame,” Schafer noted. “We used our depth to start wearing them down, especially their guards. We played with a lot of energy and forced them into making some bad decisions.”

When Armstrong grabbed an offensive rebound and scored one minute into the second half, the Lady Hearts had a 22-21 lead. But that was their last lead.

Bierman hit two free throws, Allison Einhorn scored and Whitney Zumbahlen connected from behind the arc to put Newton back on top, 28-22. The Lady Eagles’ advantage was five, 32-27, when the third period closed.

Effingham had opportunities to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter. Three turnovers hurt, plus the Lady Hearts were just 5-of-10 from the free throw line.

Armstrong led the Lady Hearts with 17 points and six rebounds. Diveley also scored in double figures with 10.

Effingham shot just 30 percent overall, connecting on 11-of-37 attempts. They were 2-of-13 from three-point range and 16-for-28 from the foul line.

“It was a combination of little things that made the difference today,” Schafer said. “But I was proud of the girls and how they fought and fought and fought. This team is very coachable and I thought we made strides this week in the tournament.”

The Lady Hearts, now 3-2 overall, will return to action Thursday with an Apollo Conference game at Mattoon.