And it only took them another 4:10 to build a 16-0 lead that was enough to break the Saints' spirit.

But the Saints knew coming into the Perry Reese Jr. Community Center that this sort of thing can happen, as they fell 77-17 to the Hawks.

"It's 90 percent mental when you walk into a place like this," TCC coach Scott Rimer said.

After that initial time period of awe, matters only got worse for the Saints as the first half wore on.

They surrendered 22 turnovers and trailed 47-8 at the half.  The Saints only managed to hit two field goals in the first half and often times had trouble getting the ball past the half court line.

It was obvious from the start the Hawks' pressure would be too much for the Saints.

"When you can't get into what you want to do (offensively) it's frustrating," Rimer said.  "It's not only frustrating, but you can't score."

Hiland would go on to force 41 turnovers in the game.  The Hawks allowed the Saints to shoot just 27 times, though most of the shots were contested, as TCC shot just 22 percent from the field.

Not only were no Saints able to reach double digits in scoring, there were none that could reach half that number, as their leading scorers had just four.

"We've won for 15 years because of our defense," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said.  "We expect our kids to play at a certain level."

The Hawks matched that defensive execution with a balanced offense, something Schlabach said the team wanted to work on.

He was worried that Lindsay Stuckey and Jena Stutzman would be having to score a bundle of the points.  While the two combined for 36 points, the Hawks were able to get some of their other players looks.

Five other Hawks were able to reach five points while nine Hiland players played 15 or more minutes on the night.

"We have a number of those games," Schlabach said.  "We've just got to try to get something out of those."

And while the score was lopsided, there were some areas of concern for Schlabach.  He was a little worried about the 16 turnovers the Hawks had and wished his team could've gotten more chances to set up in their half court sets.

Even so, the win was another in a string of impressive victories for the defending Div. IV state champions and it put the Hawks in the early lead to win yet another Inter-Valley Conference championship.

"That's the kind of program we're striving to be," Rimer said.