The Effingham Lady Hearts put together an impressive fourth quarter rally, but Paris still managed to come away with a 45-40 victory at home Monday night.

The host Lady Tigers held a 39-31 lead heading into the final eight minutes, but the Lady Hearts scored the first eight points of the quarter to tie the game. Madison Mapes knocked down a 3-pointer, Annie Frost scored three points and Sawyer Althoff made a pair a free throws, helping EHS knot the score at 39-39.

Paris, however, went on a 6-1 scoring run down the stretch to pull out the five-point win.

The Lady Tigers led 10-5 after the first period and 23-20 at halftime.

Frost led the Lady Hearts with 11 points, while Meredith Schaefer scored nine, Ella Niebrugge seven and Taylor Armstrong six.

Paris’ Madyson Rigdon led all scorers with 18 points.

It was the season opener for Effingham. The Lady Hearts will play two more road games this week. They will play Thursday at Taylorville and Saturday at Mattoon.