“I thought we played well defensively,” THS coach Laurie Thompson said. “We had a couple communication breakdowns where we didn’t switch, but for the most part the girls did a good job.”

“T-Town plays good defense. They always do,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer added. “I thought they did an especially good job in the first half. Plus, we didn’t have anybody step up to score.”

At halftime, Effingham had connected on just 4-of-22 attempts, an icy 18 percent clip.

Beals drained a three-pointer to open the second half to close the gap to 10 points, but it never got under double digits in the third period. Kaylee Niebrugge answered with a three and Emily Konkel added a free throw to build the gap back to 14 points, 25-11.

The lead fluctuated between 11 and 14 points the entire third period. Entering the final eight minutes, THS enjoyed a 13-point margin, 31-18.

Wall hit a pair of free throws and Niebrugge and Konkel both added baskets, helping the Lady Shoes build their largest lead of the game, 37-20, with 4:42 remaining.

Then all of a sudden, the comeback was on.

Martin’s free throw sparked a 10-0 run. Beals followed with three straight baskets – one from behind the arc – and Ella Niebrugge converted a T-Town turnover into a bucket. With 1:12 to play, the Lady Hearts were within 37-30.

“We got tentative,” Thompson noted. “We want to win, but this group has a hard time putting teams away. We threw the ball away, took a couple silly shots and Effingham capitalized. Give Effingham credit. They came back and made it exciting.”

Konkel and Kaylee Niebrugge both made a pair of foul shots to extend the lead back to 11 before late three-pointers from Beals and Ella Niebrugge trimmed the final margin to six points.

“We finally started matching their physicality,” Schafer said. “I thought Alyssa was phenomenal. She just finds a way to get the ball in the basket. I think she’s really going to help us the second half of the season. And Bria started knocking down shots.

“I was very pleased with how we kept battling,” Shafer added. “But overall, it was a disappointing performance. I hate losing.”

Another positive for Teutopolis was the new offense Thompson has been installing. This is a team that has shot only about 25 percent for the season. So, Thompson decided to try something different and the early results have been positive. The Lady Shoes shot 46 percent against Effingham.

“This offense keeps the girls moving,” Thompson explained. “They tend to stand around and watch. But the motion in this offense keeps them active.

“I liked what I saw today,” Thompson added. “When we were patient and worked for the shot we wanted, we got it. This is a work in progress and still needs some tweaking, but I thought we did pretty good.”

Kaylee Niebrugge paced the Lady Shoes with a double-double performance -- 16 points and 10 rebounds -- while Konkel and Wall both scored nine. The Lady Shoes connected on 16-of-35 shots overall, a 46 percent clip. They were 2-for-8 from long range and 8-for-12 at the foul line. They held a 22-14 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over 19 times.

Beals had a game-high 17 points for the Lady Hearts and Martin added nine. EHS was 14-for-42 from the floor, a 33 percent effort. They ended 4-for-13 from three-point range and 4-for-10 from the free throw line. They turned the ball over 14 times.

Mapes, who injured an ankle in the first half of the Tri-County game Monday afternoon, started, but played sparingly for the Lady Hearts and finished with just two points.

“We knew starting Madison was a gamble, but she’s one of our leaders,” Schafer said. “I was proud of the fact that she tried, but you could tell she wasn’t normal. She will have some time now to rest that ankle before we play again.”

The Lady Hearts should also welcome Sydney Donaldson back soon. The sophomore forward, who has been out with a knee injury, should return sometime early in January.

The Lady Hearts are now 12-4 on the season. They will complete tournament play today (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m. against Danville. They will then be off until traveling to Mt. Zion on January 7.

The Lady Shoes, who improved to 12-2 on the season, will have a chance to lock up the tournament championship, playing two games today (Wednesday) – 1:30 p.m. against Jacksonville; and 6 p.m. against Tri-County.