Most eyes were on coach Dave Schlabach lecturing his club, while the others were gazing at the scoreboard in disbelief.  Hiland, the defending Div. IV state champions, led rival Garaway by just a point.

In the end, though, the Hawks and their faithful witnessed what they've grown accustomed to.

Hiland won its 29th consecutive game overall and the 38th straight in Inter-Valley Conference play, using a barrage of third-quarter 3-pointers to build a double-digit lead and win by a count of 47-38 at Garaway.

"I told our kids at halftime that I was more proud of their kids than I was of our kids," Schlabach said.  "They had kids playing with more guts, more passion and more smarts. ... They were expecting to win and prepared to win, but luckily we had a few kids step up in the second half."

Still leading by only one more than two minutes into the third, sophomore guards Gabrielle Fowler and Jena Stutzman turned the tide.  Fowler banked in a 3-pointer from the right wing at the 5:28 mark, while Stutzman followed with long balls at 4:54, 4:29 and 3:09.  The last trifecta gave Hiland a 33-23 lead, and Garaway, which was playing without sophomore standout Laura Bardall, could get no closer than six at any point in the fourth quarter.

It did so on three separate occasions.  The last of which came when Molly Hershberger connected on both ends of a one-and-one with 3:53 to play.  However, Hiland's Lydia Miller answered just 15 seconds later by slashing to the hoop and producing an old-fashioned three-point play.

Another three-point play from Lindsay Stuckey at the 3:07 mark -- a beautiful back-door delivery from Stutzman helping the cause -- pushed the Hawks' lead to 10 again (46-36) and all but sealed the deal.

"It's a rivalry game because they are so close and they are so good," said Garaway coach Scott Bardall, sweat dripping from his brow and his voice nearly gone.  "As a coach you try your best to make the kids realize that it's just one game, but they inherently know it's a little more than your usual game. ... It was a tournament-type atmosphere, and best part about it is that we have no regrets.  Our kids did everything we asked them to do."

Stuckey scored seven of her game-high 17 points in the first four minutes, helping Hiland bolt to a 12-3 lead just six minutes in.  Garaway immediately rolled off nine in a row, and except for Hiland's four straight 3-pointer makes in the third quarter, the Pirates played the Hawks pretty even.

Stutzman's 100-second hot hand was indeed a big difference.  She finished with 16 points and four assists, draining four 3-pointers to help Hiland finish 7-of-14 beyond the arc as a team.  Hiland was forced to turn to the perimeter with Garaway preventing senior posts Krista Beechy and Rachel Thomas from getting the ball.  Beechy did not score and Thomas had just one bucket.

"Jena is not playing to her potential right now, but when she does, it could be scary," Schlabach said.  "I expect something like that out of her every quarter, because we think she's that good.  We wouldn't be asking her to run the point and score if we didn't."

Molly and Erica Hershberger finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively, to pace Garaway.  Bardall, who was the team's second-leading scorer as a freshman, twisted her ankle in the Pirates' win over Strasburg Thursday.  She reaggravated the injury in warm-ups and was forced to sit.

"Do you think our kids would trade a win with her tonight for a trip to the regionals later?  The answer is absolutely," Bardall said.  "We did hang tough without her, but we're looking long term.  We're hopefully looking deep into the tournament."

The Pirates still outrebounded Hiland 20-17 and shot 13-of-15 from the foul line and 12-of-28 from the floor, but 18 turnovers limited their opportunities.  That especially hurt in a game that featured a mere 50 shot attempts combined.

"I wish we could have more games like this," Schlabach said.  "Scott (Bardall) had his kids focused and ready to go.  They were competitive and made us work for it, and we don't get the opportunity to do that much (in the IVC)."