Hayley Diveley connected on a 3-pointer and Taylor Armstrong hit a short jumper to give EHS an early 5-0 lead. T-Town went scoreless the first 3½ minutes until Hope Bueker made a shot to make it 5-2.
The Lady Hearts then had three point-blank layups and missed each one. And then the THS defensive pressure forced five straight turnovers and the Lady Shoes started to roll. In fact, over the final 4:35 of the opening period, they ran off 17 unanswered points.
Lexie Niebrugge hit two from long range and tallied eight points, helping the Lady Shoes build a 17-5 advantage after eight minutes of play.
“We couldn’t have drawn up a better start,” EHS coach Jeff Schafer said. “Who knows what happens if we make those layups? But the bottom line is you can’t waste opportunities like that against good teams. You saw what happened. They went on a 17-0 run.”
Twice the Lady Hearts trimmed the gap to seven points, but Olivia Niemerg and Niebrugge – who both ended up making four shots from behind the arc – connected from long range and the Lady Shoes took a 27-14 edge into the locker room at halftime.
“We finally got a little fire and showed some intensity in that first quarter,” Thompson said. “When we play like that, good things happen. Right now we’re living and dying with the 3-pointer. We have to get the ball inside more to Izzy (Hardiek) and Hope when they’re open and then they have to make their shots.”
Niemerg hit another three to open the second half to make it a 16-point spread, but the Lady Shoes made only two more shots the rest of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Callie Feldhake made a couple shots for EHS and Ella Niebrugge drained a three. When the Lady Hearts scored the final six points, it was a 10-point margin, 36-26, heading into the final eight minutes.
“We got a lot of energy off our bench tonight from Ella, Grace (Bushur) and Katie (Carie),” Schafer noted. “They helped get us going. But we still have difficulty scoring and that makes it hard to win.”
Back-to-back baskets by Sawyer Althoff and Bushur got Effingham within eight points, 38-30, at the 6:18 mark of the fourth period. But that was the closest the Lady Hearts came. Niemerg hit another three and T-Town went 4-for-6 from the foul stripe down the stretch to expand the lead and secure the win.
“Defensively, I thought we looked good at times,” Thompson said. “But then we’d lose our focus and had a hard time getting it back. These girls have so much potential. But the key is getting them to believe how good they can be. That’s part of the struggle right now.”
Niebrugge and Niemerg combined to score 30 of the team’s points. Niebrugge finished with 18, while Niemerg added 12, to go along with five rebounds for both players. T-Town shot 44 percent overall, making 17-of-39 attempts. They were 8-for-18 from behind the arc and 5-for-7 from the free throw line.
Effingham didn’t have a player reach double figures. Diveley, Armstrong and Feldhake each scored six points. The Lady Shoes shot 34 percent, connecting on 12-of-35 shots. They were 2-for-14 from three-point range and 6-for-7 from the foul line.
“We battled the whole game,” Schafer said. “I have no problem with our effort. We just have to score.”
The Lady Hearts dipped to 11-13 overall. They will play at home again today (Saturday) against a 20-3 Mt. Zion team.
The Lady Shoes improved to 20-7 on the season. They will return to action Monday at Breese Mater Dei.
