Neither team was able to take control. The Lady Shoes threatened to pull away early in the fourth period. Lexie Niebrugge hit a pair of free throws and Zoe Cremens knocked down a three, giving THS its biggest lead of the game, 31-24, at the 6:24 mark.

But the Lady Hearts battled back. Annie Frost hit a short jumper that started a 9-2 scoring run. Meredith Schaefer capped that surge with a three that knotted the score at 33-33 with 3:11 to play.

Lexie Niebrugge then hit her shot from long range just 12 seconds later, setting the stage for the final 2:59. Madison Mapes scored for Effingham to make it 36-35 with 1:39 still left.

Teutopolis turned the ball over at the 1:08 mark, but Effingham did the same 29 seconds later. The Lady Shoes ran the clock down until Lexie Niebrugge was fouled with seven seconds to go. The senior made both foul shots, but the Lady Hearts quickly advanced the ball and found Armstrong open on the wing.

“We had the ball, down just one and 40 seconds to play,” Schafer noted. “We ran a play and couldn’t have asked for a better look, but the ball got away. Then we had that open shot at the end. I was really pleased how the girls pushed the ball up the floor. Our execution was very good.”

“Effingham really came to play tonight,” THS coach Laurie Thompson added. “They played very good team defense, were aggressive getting to the basket and got the majority of the 50-50 balls. On defense, especially, they really took it to us. Give their girls credit. They did a nice job.”

It was a battle throughout.

The game was tied three times in the opening half, but the Lady Hearts never trailed. A three-point play by Sawyer Althoff helped EHS take a 9-8 lead after the first eight minutes.

After Kaitlyn Schumacher’s basket got T-Town back to an 11-11 tie, Althoff scored again and Schaefer knocked down a three, giving the Lady Hearts their largest lead, 16-11. Cremens scored from behind the arc and Emily Konkel hit a short jumper for Teutopolis, but Madison Mapes’ bucket at the end of the quarter gave the Lady Hearts a 19-17 halftime advantage.

“We kept switching on defense and it created mismatches the entire game,” Thompson noted. “We’d end up with guards guarding post players. Our defense still isn’t there yet. If the girls will just buy-in on defense, it will help create offense for us. We have to keep working on it, but it will come.”

A basket and a free throw by Armstrong to open the third period helped EHS match its largest lead at 22-17, but the Lady Shoes then rallied. Izzy Hardiek hit a jumper, Lexie Niebrugge added another and Konkel had back-to-back scores, capping an 8-0 run that put T-Town on top for the first time, 25-22.

It was a 26-24 lead at the end of the quarter and set the stage for the final eight minutes.

“Our effort was superb tonight,” Schafer said. “Our defense was great and we really rebounded the ball. The girls stayed aggressive and weren’t afraid. We made them take some really tough shots and didn’t give them second shots. They did an excellent job.”

Lexie Niebrugge led the Lady Shoes with 12 points. Hardiek scored seven and both Cremens and Konkel added six.

“Zoe hit a couple critical threes for us,” Thompson said. “She has the green light to catch and shoot. It gives other teams somebody to guard besides Lexie. It also takes a little pressure off Lexie.”

Frost was the only Effingham player in double figures with 10 points. Althoff, Armstrong and Schaefer each added seven.

The Lady Shoes shot just 27 percent overall, connecting on 13-of-48 attempts. They were 3-for-11 from three-point range and 9-of-13 at the foul line. Schumacher led the team with six rebounds. T-Town did force 20 turnovers, which helped them get 16 more shot attempts in the game.

The Lady Hearts were 14-of-32 from the floor, a 44 percent clip. They were 2-for-11 from long range and 5-for-8 from the free throw line. Frost grabbed six rebounds, helping EHS to a 20-16 rebounding edge.

“Give our kids a lot of credit tonight,” Schafer said. “Mentally, they were there the entire game. They took what we practiced and put it into play. They did everything I asked them to do. We just needed a few more shots to fall in.”

The Lady Hearts dipped to 5-7 overall and 5-6 in the Apollo Conference. They will play Thursday night at Lincoln.

The Lady Shoes improved to 10-3 overall and 8-3 in the Apollo Conference. They will play four more games this week – today (Tuesday) at Danville; Thursday at Charleston; Friday at home against Warrensburg-Latham; and Saturday at St. Joe-Ogden.