“There was never a time in this game when I had a sigh of relief or felt this game was in the bag,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “And that’s a testament to T-Town. They have tough kids. Plus, these kids are friends; some go to school together. They weren’t going to let this game get away. They just kept battling.”

“Our guys fight tonight was awesome,” THS coach Chet Reeder added. “I can’t say enough about that. They showed grit and determination. A couple weeks ago, this might have been a 25-point game. But our kids keep working hard and improving. I was very proud of their effort tonight.”

There were two crucial moments in the fourth period. A pair of free throws by Caleb Siemer narrowed the Effingham lead to 63-60 with 2:11 to play. But on the Hearts’ next possession, reserve Jakob Logan rebounded a missed shot, scored, got fouled and completed the three-point play.

“It’s not about how much time you get; it’s about what you do with that time,” Farmer said. “We had some foul trouble, so Jakob got an opportunity and came through in big way. His basket really changed the tide again. It stopped their momentum.”

Just 27 seconds later, the Hearts were pounding the offensive glass again. This time, they missed five straight shots, but grabbed a rebound each time. Finally, Jacob Stoneburner converted one of those into a bucket and Effingham’s lead went to 68-62 at the 1:24 mark.

“That just means we missed five straight bunnies,” Farmer said with a laugh. “It shows how tough our kids are. They crashed the boards hard and really got after it tonight. It made a difference in the game.”

“Those were two huge rebounds,” Reeder admitted. “Their rebounding hurt us all night. Plus, we had a spurt in the second quarter that we strayed away from our game plan. Those two things ended up costing us.”

Early on, the Shoes looked sharp. Hardiek connected from behind the arc to make it 7-2. Hardiek hit two more from long ran and T-Town was up 20-14 after the opening eight minutes. THS still led by six, 22-16, just 90 seconds into the second period.

“They were rolling,” Farmer said. “So I called a timeout and we had a nice talk about decisions we were making on offense and what we wanted to do on defense. The kids realized what we needed to do and then went out and took care of business.”

Over the next five minutes, it was all Hearts. Brayden Pals got a tip-in off a missed shot that started a 12-0 run. Parker Wolfe scored six points during that stretch, Garrett Wolfe had a pair of free throws and Pals added another jumper. After that surge, EHS led 28-22.

It was 33-26 at halftime.

Effingham took its first 10-point lead, 38-28, after Parker Wolfe connected from behind the arc. But in a game that see-sawed back-and-forth most of the way, the Shoes then scored the next six points to close to within four. The Hearts built the lead back to nine, 50-41, when the third quarter ended.

“Between that third and fourth quarter, I told the guys they had to trust each other,” Reeder noted. “We weren’t doing that and it resulted in a few turnovers. They started trusting the next guy in that fourth period and it showed.

“I hate moral victories,” Reeder added. “But after the game, I told the guys to walk out with their heads up.”

Hardiek led four Shoes in double figures with 23 points. Niebrugge and Wermert both scored 15 and Addis added 10. Siemer led the team with seven rebounds.

T-Town made 26-of-58 shots overall, a 45 percent clip. They Shoes were 9-for-24 from long range and 12-of-15 from the foul line.

Parker Wolfe finished with 36 points, giving him 105 over the last three games. Nate Thompson scored 15 points and Garrett Wolfe added 11. Thompson and Pals both pulled down eight rebounds.

“What I appreciate about Parker is how he always seems to be under control,” Reeder said. “I thought we did a good job of challenging a lot of his shots, but he is so good around the basket. Parker is just a really good player.”

The Hearts shot 44 percent overall, connecting on 22-of-50 shots. They were 2-for-13 from behind the arc and an impressive 31-of-35 from the foul line, an 89 percent effort.

The Shoes dipped to 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the Apollo Conference. They will play three more games this week – Thursday at home against St. Anthony; Friday at Charleston; and Saturday at St. Joe-Ogden.

The Hearts improved to 12-1 overall and 9-1 in the Apollo Conference. They have a huge conference game Friday at Lincoln, although the Railsplitters loss to Mattoon Tuesday night helped their cause. Lincoln, along with Mattoon and Mahomet-Seymour, all have three losses in the league.

“Lincoln is always tough,” Farmer said. “You know exactly what they’re going to do, but they’re so good at it, they’re tough to stop. It’s going to be a big match-up. I guarantee we’ll get everything they’ve got.”