Putting the 'D' in Dungeon

By ELLIOTT SCHREINER
Daily Record Sports Writer

MILLERSBURG - The West Holmes girls basketball team did exactly what it hoped to do defensively against cross-county rival Hiland.

The Knights held the Hawks to 13-of-38 shooting, including a 1-of-13 night from downtown.

They forced Hiland into 16 turnovers.

And they kept them to 37 points while doing it.

Unfortunately for the Knights, Hiland (13-2) returned the favor and then some, holding West Holmes (11-5) to a 28 percent shooting night while forcing 20 turnovers.

That pressure was more than enough to seal a 37-24 win Tuesday night in the Dungeon.

The 24 points was also a season-low for the Knights.

"We saw something tonight that we haven't seen all year," West Holmes coach Matt Voll said. "Did we expect that pressure? Yes. Did we expect them to trap? Yes. We just didn't adapt very well."

The win gives the Hawks a decisive win over a quality opponent.

Hiland has beaten solid teams like Garaway and Fort Recovery this season, but in neither game was their defense as ferocious as it was in Millersburg last night.

"Holding them to 24 points here, we've got to feel good about that," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "That was a quality, quality game for us."

The Hawks weren't intimidated by the home crowd, coming out with plenty of pressure and jumping out to a 4-0 lead.

Hiland held a 12-7 lead toward the end of the second quarter when it got the game's only offensive burst.

With 1:39 left, guard Layla Miller found Lydia Miller for a bucket.

Then, Jena Stutzman hit a deep 3-pointer with 1:12 on the clock.

She followed with a steal and a lay in seconds later to push the score to 19-7 with 55 seconds on the clock.

It was one of the few times either team was able to gain an edge on the other.

"They did to us what we did to them at times," Schlabach said. "But we had that run in the second quarter and that was the difference."

Hiland started the second half strong, pushing its lead to 17 in the middle of the frame before heading into the fourth quarter with a 28-13 advantage.

The Knights started the final quarter applying pressure on Hiland. They went on an 11-3 run and were down seven with 1:50 on the clock.

But Hiland turned the pressure up, keeping the Knights from scoring while going 6-of-6 from the line.

"We didn't take care of the ball in the fourth quarter," Schlabach said. "Fortunately, we hit our free throws in the end."

The Knights weren't able to get any players into double figures on the scoreboard thanks to the constant pressure. On top of that, they got hammered on the glass, losing the rebounding battle 33 to 19.

"It's tough when you can't execute," Voll said. "Execution and rebounding were the two big things."

Hiland got 10 points out of Lydia Miller and Lindsay Stuckey.

Now that the Hawks are done with their four non-conference games and they've gotten Garaway out of the way, it will likely be easy sailing as the Hawks face five IVC opponents they've already handled by an average of 35.4 points per game.

The key for the Hawks will be continuing the effort they got against the Knights and staying focused on the tournament, something they've always done.

"We always look forward to the tournament," Schlabach said. "It's what our program is about. Our program is about preparing for a tournament run and maybe giving ourselves a shot."

Courtesy The Daily Record, Wooster, Ohio