The Hearts held an 11-8 lead after eight minutes and then took off. Nate Thompson scored the first four points of the second period, followed by a 3-pointer and a layup by Wolfe. Drew Thompson then capped the 12-0 run with the first of three 3-pointers in the quarter to expand the Effingham lead to 23-8.

Drew Thompson completed his 11-point quarter with another three and a short jumper to send the Hearts to the locker room with a 32-14 advantage.

“Drew has scored 57 points the last two games, which is great,” Farmer said. “But we’re all about team effort. If someone on our team does well and helps us get a victory, everyone on this team is excited about that. We’re all about ‘we’ not ‘me.’ We don’t care who scores as long we score and get the win.”

The Hearts didn’t have a letdown in the second half. They led by as many as 23 points in the third period and took a 47-26 advantage into the final period. The Tigers didn’t get closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Olney was playing without 6’9” junior center Zach Duenas, who missed the game due to a back injury.

“He is only averaging four points a game, but he can change a lot underneath,” Farmer noted. “We had prepared for him. We practiced shot fakes, plus moving the ball inside-out. His absence certainly allowed us to have more free reign inside.”

The Hearts had three players in double figures. Wolfe finished with 12 and Nate Thompson added 11. Thompson also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, while Jacob Stoneburner grabbed six.

Effingham shot 51 percent overall, connecting on 21-of-41 shots. The Hearts were 8-of-17 from behind the arc and 8-for-12 from the foul line. They held a 21-16 rebounding edge and committed nine turnovers.

The Hearts, who improved to 5-1, will face a tough conference road test Friday night. They will travel to Lincoln to face a talented Railsplitters team. Lincoln is 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Apollo Conference.