Taylorville’s Jase Bergschneider and Rhayden Gideon kept the game close. They combined for 43 points and had the Tornados within 52-42 entering the fourth period.

“Those two players are really good,” Farmer said. “They get to the basket well and shoot at a pretty efficient rate, too. We had a hard time against their basket-cutting offense early, but by the end, we had it figured out. That helped us extend our lead a bit in the fourth quarter.”

Wolfe tallied 10 points in the final period and the Hearts were 6-for-7 from the foul line and maintained their double-digit lead down the stretch.

“All in all, I thought it was a good game for us,” Farmer said. “We will always come away from a game knowing there are things we could do better, but that’s just part of coaching and playing high school basketball. We ask our kids for a perfect effort and to give us everything they have while they’re on the court. If they do that, we’ll be in position to win games.”

The Hearts improved to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play. They will be on the road again Friday night, traveling to Mahomet-Seymour for another league contest.