This one was over quick.

The Effingham Lady Hearts broke out to a 24-2 lead and then coasted to a 69-10 victory at home Thursday night over Mattoon in a lopsided Apollo Conference game.

Tessa Raddatz knocked down a pair of three-pointers and Averie Wolfe and Bria Beals also connected from behind the arc, helping the Lady Hearts build the big early lead.

And the margin only continued to grow after the first eight minutes. By halftime, EHS owned a 42-4 advantage and it was 58-12 heading into the fourth period. The continuously running clock kicked in during those final eight minutes.

Effingham had a balanced scoring attack. Wolfe and Alyssa Martin were in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. Raddatz and Sidney Donaldson both scored nine and Hannah Thompson had eight.

The win put the Lady Hearts at the 20-win plateau. They are now 20-5 overall and 6-1 in the Apollo. They will return to action tonight (Friday) at Teutopolis and then play Saturday at Mahomet-Seymour. Tonight’s game in T-Town will feature two of the best teams in the state. The Lady Shoes enter with an 18-6 record.

Cameron Appenzeller and Matthew Helm combined to score 47 points Tuesday night, helping the Chatham-Glenwood Titans come away with a 47-35 road victory over Effingham.

The Hearts only trailed by one point, 20-19, at halftime, but the guests outscored them 27-16 in the second half to pull away.

Jude Traub knocked down a pair of three-pointers and scored eight points in the first period, helping the Hearts take a 14-12 lead. Chatham-Glenwood came back to take the one-point edge at intermission.

Helm then scored eight points in the third period, as the Titans extended their advantage to 36-30. Effingham scored just five points in the final eight minutes and the visitors expanded their lead to double digits.

Appenzeller finished with 21 points and Helm added 16 for the Titans, who improved to 15-6.

Traub didn’t score again after the first period, but still led the Hearts with eight points. Jake Niebrugge and KJ Kellams both added seven.

The Hearts are now 6-18 for the season. They will return to action next Tuesday with a game at Olney.

The Effingham Lady Hearts limited Newton to just one point in the second quarter Tuesday night, en route to a 48-31 road victory.

The Lady Hearts opened a 10-4 lead after the first eight minutes. Averie Wolfe then connected on a three-pointer and scored seven points in the second period, helping EHS increase its lead and take a 19-5 lead to the locker room at halftime.

Bria Beals and Bella Austin both knocked downs threes in the third period, as the Lady Hearts maintained their double-digit advantage, 36-23.

Alyssa Martin finished with 12 points to lead a balanced EHS scoring attack. Wolfe scored nine points and Sydney Donaldson added eight.

Effingham improved to 19-5. They will play three more times next week – Thursday at home against Mattoon; Friday at Teutopolis; and Saturday at Mahomet-Seymour. Thursday and Saturday are Apollo Conference games.

The final day of the Salem Invitational Basketball Tournament was a rough one for the Effingham Hearts.

They lost two games to finish 0-3.

Effingham dropped a 61-48 decision to Carbondale Saturday morning and then fell to Charleston, 52-42, in the seventh place contest.

In the opening game, the Hearts knocked down four shots from behind the arc in the first period and took a 16-13 lead after eight minutes of play. The Terriers came back to take a slim 28-27 advantage to the locker room at intermission and was on top by just three points, 39-36, heading to the fourth period.

But down the stretch, it was all Carbondale. The Terriers outscored EHS 22-12 to secure the win.

Freshman Jenner Pals scored 21 points to lead the Hearts.

It was a similar pattern in the final game against Charleston.

The game was tied 7-7 after the first period. The Trojans then went on a 19-9 scoring surge to open a 26-16 margin at halftime. But the Hearts staged a comeback in the third quarter. Pals connected on three shots from long range for nine points and Max Flack scored seven more. As a result, EHS outscored Charleston 20-12 to close to within 38-36.

But in the final period, Charleston’s Luke Bonstetter connected on a three and scored seven points, helping the Trojans pull away down the stretch, finishing with the 10-point victory.

Pals, again, led the scoring attack with 15 points and Jake Niebrugge added 12.

The Hearts are now 6-17 for the season. They will return to action Tuesday night, playing host to Chatham-Glenwood.