The Hearts turned the ball over on three straight possessions and the Railers converted each time. A bucket by Dylan Singleton and back-to-back scores by Brody Whiteman gave the hosts a 36-32 advantage.
“We didn’t play strong during that stretch,” EHS coach Obie Farmer said. “We threw the ball away and let the ball get knocked out of our hands. We just weren’t being strong.
“That gave them a couple extra possessions and they made their shots,” Farmer added. “We were down 4, but it felt like we were down 15. But we have the ability to score quickly.”
Which is exactly what happened.
Parker Wolfe ended the Lincoln 6-0 scoring run with a short jumper. He then picked off a pass and scored again to knot the score at 36-36. After Singleton scored for the Railers, Wolfe drilled a three from the corner to give EHS a 39-38 lead with 1:47 to play.
And the Hearts never trailed again.
“Parker feels no pressure,” Farmer said. “If that was me with that kind of shot in the corner, I’d be hesitant. But he’s the type of kid that loves those high pressure situations. I think he knew that shot was in the second it left his hand.”
Lincoln missed its next shot and the Hearts found Jacob Stoneburner under the bucket for another score that expanded the lead to three with 56 seconds to go. Singleton hit a free throw 25 seconds later to make it 41-39.
It was then Thompson’s turn to come through in the clutch.
The senior was fouled with 16 seconds to play and calmly made both shots. After Singleton scored for Lincoln, Thompson was fouled again with seven seconds still showing. And, again, Thompson came through, draining two more foul shots that gave the Hearts a four-point cushion and sealed the victory.
“Nate is a closer,” Farmer said. “He’s just like Parker. He hit shots when we needed them the most. Even though he didn’t get many shots tonight, he is always ready for the closing minutes. We wanted to get the ball in our shooters’ hands. I had total confidence in them.”
The game was incredibly close throughout. The Wolfe brothers – Parker and Garrett – both knocked down a pair of threes in the first period. The Hearts had the biggest lead of the game, 16-9, but a three by Lincoln’s Landon Hullinger made it 16-12 at the end of the opening eight minutes.
The lead was never more than four points for either team the rest of the game. Parker Wolfe had six points in the second period and EHS owned a slim 24-21 edge at intermission.
Parker Wolfe connected on a pair from behind the arc in the third period, but Lincoln got a three from Elijah Pollice and a bucket by Whiteman right before the buzzer. Entering the final quarter, Effingham had a narrow 32-20 lead.
“This was a fun game to be part of,” Farmer said. “There weren’t a lot of fouls called and there weren’t many turnovers.
“I can’t say enough about our kids and how they adapted our system against Lincoln,” Farmer added. “We do well because of the volume of shots we get. But when you play a team like Lincoln, you’re not going to get that. We had to play much slower and we had to be surgical. I’m proud of how our kids handled that.
“This was also a big win for me personally,” the coach admitted. “Playing a program like Lincoln and against a coach like Neil (Alexander), it’s always a notch in your belt to win a game like that. This was a career-type win for me. It means a lot.”
Parker Wolfe led all scorers with 25 points. Only four Hearts got into the scoring column overall. Garrett Wolfe had eight points, all in the first quarter, and Thompson and Stoneburner both finished with six. Parker Wolfe and Thompson led the team with five rebounds.
The Hearts shot the ball extremely well. They connected on 16-of-25 overall, a red hot 64 percent clip. They were 7-of-13 from long range and 6-of-7 from the foul line. In the fourth period, they didn’t miss a shot, making all four from the floor, including the one three-pointer, and going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
The Hearts improved to 13-1 overall and 10-1 in the Apollo Conference. They will play again today (Saturday) at Robinson and then finish their season with three conference games next week – Tuesday at Charleston; Friday at home against Mattoon; and Saturday at home against Charleston.
“It’s nice to be in the driver’s seat and I’d say right now I’m cautiously optimistic,” Farmer said. “But all year long, we’ve only taken things one game at time. So right now, I’m focused on our game with Robinson. Then we’ll focus on Charleston, then Mattoon and then Charleston again.
“We just have to keep adding to our win column,” Farmer added. “We’re sitting okay, but until we’ve got things in the bag, it’s just business as usual for us.”
