Prior to that 12-minute closing stretch, the game was very tight. The largest lead by either team was five points and that came when Madison Mapes hit a jumper and Ella Niebrugge connected from behind the arc to stake the Lady Hearts to an opening 5-0 lead. But a bucket by Schumacher and a three by Hardiek tied the game.

The Lady Hearts held a slim 10-9 lead after the first quarter.

The lead switched hands twice in the second period and was tied four times, including 19-19 when Hardiek converted a turnover into a bucket in the closing seconds of the first half.

“I thought we did a nice job controlling the pace in that first half,” Schafer noted. “It was right where we wanted it to be. But they went on that spurt in the second half, we started turning the ball over and didn’t make our shots.”

Thompson was not pleased with her team’s first-half performance, especially on the defensive end.

“Effingham out-played us,” the THS coach said. “They simply wanted it more. They were getting to the basket and our defense just wasn’t very good. I thought the girls got lazy.”

So the T-Town coach made a tweak.

“I told them no more switching on our man-to-man,” Thompson explained. “If somebody scored, we would know exactly whose fault it was. They were accountable for the girl they were guarding. I think that brought a little more urgency to our defense, plus they saw what can happen when they play good defense. The way they played in the second half should give them a little more confidence.”

That defense forced the Lady Hearts to shoot primarily from the perimeter the final two quarters. They took a total of 15 shots in the second half, with 11 of them coming from behind the arc.

“We took what we could get,” Schafer said. “Our main scorers are our three-point shooters. Plus, we were struggling in the post. We got the ball inside at times, but then got stuck with nowhere to go and either turned it over or missed a shot. We also passed up a few shots we should have taken.”

Sawyer Althoff led Effingham in scoring with 11 points. The Lady Hearts shot 44 percent overall, making 12-of-27 shots. They were 6-for-16 from three-point range and 7-for-10 from the free throw line. They finished with 16 turnovers.

Schumacher led the Lady Shoes and all scorers with 17 points and also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds to help T-Town to a 20-13 rebounding edge. Hardiek was also in double figures with 10.

Teutopolis made 17-of-38 shots overall, a 45 percent clip. They shot 50 percent from behind the arc, making 6-of-12. They were also 7-for-9 from the foul line and had 11 turnovers.

“I liked the patience we had on offense,” Thompson noted. “I thought we moved the ball, did a nice job going inside-out and had some good looks. Our shot selection was good and we definitely hit some. We needed that.”

The Lady Hearts, who are the midst of a tough stretch of games, fell to 16-9 on the season. They will be back in action today (Saturday) with an Apollo Conference game at Mahomet-Seymour.

“This stretch is like a regional or sectional,” Schafer said. “It should help prepare us for the postseason.”

T-Town improved to 16-6 overall. The Lady Shoes will play again today as well, traveling to Breese Central.