That “roll” began with a three-point play by Thompson and a bucket by Parker Wolfe following the first of six third-quarter turnovers by the Trojans. That gave the Hearts a 43-42 lead and they never trailed again.

Thompson, who recorded his 1,000th career point the night before, had been held to just a single point in the first half. But he scored eight points during the key run, including the first of two breakaway dunks in the period. Jakob Logan and Garrett Wolfe added baskets and Parker Wolfe capped the three-minute scoring spree with a shot from long range to extend the Hearts’ lead to 55-42 with 4:46 left in the period.

“I should have gone to the press earlier. That’s my fault. It’s on me,” Farmer admitted. “We preach, preach, preach energy and effort and to always play tougher than the other team. We hadn’t been doing that. But once we started to play our game, everything was fine.”

A bucket by Logan to close the third period and another by Parker Wolfe to open the final eight minutes, gave the Hearts a 15-point cushion, 63-48.

But the Trojans didn’t stop playing. Caleb Oakley scored twice, Jackson Burgess added a bucket and Jaksen Braun drilled a three to pull Charleston within single digits, 65-57, with 4:32 left.

The Hearts then responded by closing the game on a 14-2 run to secure their 17th victory of the season.

“I looked up once and we were up 15, then it was down to eight. Then I looked again and we were up 20,” Farmer explained. “I have a hard time relaxing until that last buzzer goes off.”

He didn’t relax much the first half either.

The Trojans, led by Braun, were red hot. They made eight consecutive shots in the first period and 10-of-13 overall and led 25-23 after the opening eight minutes. They finished the half by making 16-of-24 shots, a torrid 67 percent clip, and went to the locker room with a 40-38 halftime lead. Braun had 18 points in those first 16 minutes.

“I was disappointed in our defense that first half,” Farmer said. “We weren’t moving our feet and not cutting off the gaps. We were kind of asleep at the wheel. It reminded me of the Robinson game when we just went through the motions.

“Plus, after the big win Tuesday at Charleston, I think it was kind of hard for our kids to really get ‘up’ for this game,” Farmer admitted. “We certainly didn’t make them uncomfortable and we talked about that at halftime.”

Parker Wolfe concluded a stellar career at EHS with a game-high 35 points. He averaged 30 points a game over his final eight contests and ended his career with 1,654 points, now fifth on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Jacob Stoneburner tied his career-high with 15 points, including 11 in the first half. Thompson finished with 11 points and Garrett Wolfe added 10.

Thompson, who became the 14th player in EHS history to reach the 1,000-Point Club, ended his career with 1,021 points and is now the 13th all-time leading scorer.

“Parker and Nate are both three-year starters and have been key contributors,” Farmer noted. “This year, they have been leaders in our program. And so has Stonie. Not mentioning Stonie would be a crime. He’s our emotional leader and our big physical guy. These kids have been tremendous and I’ll miss them a lot.”

Farmer will also say goodbye to seniors Chase Woomer and Jackob Logan.

“Chase knew his role on our team and accepted that,” the coach noted. “He wanted to be with his buddies this year. He worked hard in practice and always provided a lot of energy on the bench.

“Jakob has come a long ways,” Farmer added. “He’s a hard-nosed kid; a football first guy. He plays hard and is good rebounder. I’ll miss these two kids as well.”

It’s been a special season for the Hearts. They finished the year with a 17-1 overall record and probably a top 10 finish in the Class 3A poll. They entered Saturday’s game ranked 9th. They also claimed the Apollo Conference championship with a 13-1 record; their only setback a one-point defeat to Mahomet-Seymour.

“It’s been a very gratifying season,” Farmer said. “The wins are great and winning the Apollo Conference is great. But a couple of my highlights were seeing Parker move up on the all-time scoring list and see Nate get his 1,000th point.

“And to see the type of kids we have is tremendous,” Farmer added. “We have a very good group of kids and a good group of parents. They let us coach these kids and coach them hard if necessary. I’m very appreciative of that. Go Hearts!”