Hiland, which has become accustomed to having things put away by the end of the first or second quarter, was in a dog fight for the first two periods against the Tigers, taking an 11-point lead into halftime.

The depth of the Hawks and their ability to create offense in any way proved to be too much for overmatched Shadyside down the stretch as Hiland remained perfect at 23-0 and picked up its 21st win by at least 20 points.

"It didn't feel like (a normal 20-point win)," Schlabach said.  "I looked up at the clock and with three minutes left, we were still pressing.  I feel like you can't trust any lead against a well-coached team like Shadyside that plays so hard."

Shadyside was successful, at least early on, in slowing down Hiland's fast-paced offense.

The Tigers led 9-6 late in the first quarter before an 8-2 Hiland run pulled the Hawks to a 14-11 lead through the period.  Lydia Miller recorded five points and a steal in that stretch in which Hiland went ahead to stay.

Hiland slowly began to pull away in the second quarter on the strength of a 21-13 stanza, but, unlike other games, the Hawks had not put the issue to rest by intermission, taking a 35-24 advantage into the locker room.

Unable to penetrate inside very often in the first half, Hiland had to rely on its outside game, which was working well as the Hawks drained four 3-point bombs in the first two quarters.

"Fortunately we were hitting our perimeter shots early because we weren't getting anything but that," Schlabach said of the first half.  "Fortunately we hit some of those or it could have been a little ugly early."

Shadyside might have been even closer at halftime if not for 14 turnovers and 2-of-9 free throw shooting during the first two periods.

"We were doing some good things, but when you turn the ball over so many times that gives them even more chances," said Shadyside coach Jim Miller, whose team finished the year 16-7.

"They executed so well, it's hard to keep them slow.  We did a good job of doing that for a long time, but they're such a great team."

Hiland's depth proved too much for Shadyside to handle as the Hawks slowly crept further and further away from the Tigers in the second half.

The Hawks opened the second half on a 9-0 run behind six points from Lindsay Stuckey and a 3-pointer from freshman Jena Stutzman that gave Hiland a 47-26 lead.  Shadyside was never closer than 17 points from that moment.

The Hawks' stars did their usual damage, with junior Lindsay Stuckey scoring 18 points to go with six rebounds,  Launa Hochstetler dishing out 11 assists and Leah Hochstetler filling the hoop for nine points on 3-of-4 shooting.

However, it was the role players who separated Hiland from Shadyside.  Stutzman continued her breakout season with a 13-point effort that included three treys, while Lydia Miller picked up 10 points and a game-high eight boards.  Krista Beechy pulled down six caroms.

"The area where we're from, you get to the other team's bench and its a bit of a breather," Miller said.  "When you get into (Hiland's) bench it's like 'holy crap, here we go again.' (Schlabach's) done a nice job molding 10 kids.  They don't lose much from one to 10."

Schlabach praised his role players for the job they did in picking up the district semifinal victory.

"A couple times we had three or four kids at the scorers table ready to go in and they didn't have any," Schlabach said.  "That made a big difference.

"We have some kids who play more than others, but they're all very important.  The supporting cast played very well tonight."

Hiland will now play the winner of tonight's game between Strasburg and Rosecrans on Friday night in the district final, with the winner moving on to the Div. IV Pickerington Regional next week.