The Hawks couldn't have picked a better night for it.

After taking a 21-12 lead in the first half Saturday against Garaway, the Hawks blistered their arch-rival in the second half. Hiland outscored the Pirates 31-11 in the second half, including a 19-1 fourth quarter, and showed a physical defensive effort that wore on Garaway's nerves and energy in a 52-23 Inter-Valley Conference win at the Perry Reese Jr. Community Center.

"We stayed on them at halftime and challenged them about this being the night we finally break through," Schlabach said. "Were we finally going to break that wall down and play more than two quarters? I thought we got better as the second half went on. We played more and more kids and got good minutes from a lot of them. We really pressured the basketball and made them feel uncomfortable. For us, this was definitely a step forward."

The defense Hiland (15-1, 12-0 IVC) played was as thorough as it was deliberate.

While scoring low numbers isn't new for Garaway, the way it happened wasn't by plan. The Pirates (11-6, 10-3) often slow games down and beat teams with half court execution and lockdown defense of their own. Saturday, Hiland physically went after the Pirates and forced many things at the defensive end.

The Pirates shot 10-of-25 from the floor and scored just one basket outside the paint all night, a Kristen Troyer jumper in the first quarter. They also turned the ball over 26 times, a total that normally takes a month for the Pirates to reach, and had just two offensive rebounds.

"We got physically handled tonight by an outstanding program," Garaway coach Scott Bardall said. "They just wore us down with their far greater physical strength. It wasn't like they did things we didn't know they were going to do. They just beat us physically."

That was playing itself out the entire night, but started to show itself in the third quarter.

With the game looking like a typical Hiland-Garaway meeting in the middle of the third, the Hawks took over behind energy from Mykeila Mast and Hilary Weaver. Weaver took over offensively, posting all of her game-high 16 points in the final 12 minutes of the game. What Mast did lasted all night.

She displayed an evolving perimeter game that included hitting her fourth 3-pointer of the year and was the same disruptive player at the defensive end. She helped hold Troyer to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting and had a game-high five steals.

"She's really been a missing link for us," Schlabach said. "I think those were the words I used a couple days ago. I told her I thought she'd be further along by now. That was the player we've been waiting for tonight. That first rotation, bringing Noelle (Yoder) and Myk off the bench it gives us two playmakers. I thought Myk made some big shots for us, too. When she plays like that, we're definitely a much better team."

The Garaway game is one of about four chances the Hawks get for a true test in the Inter-Valley Conference that could help them in the postseason. The Hawks have four regular season games left, all of which will be played this week. They play at Malvern on Monday, at Newcomerstown on Wednesday, at home against Tuscarawas Central Catholic on Thursday and finish the regular season at the Reese Center on Saturday against Sandy Valley. The closest game in those in the first round was a 72-26 win over Newcomerstown.

"I'd love 20 opponents like Garaway every year," Schlabach said. "Last year, a loss to them springboarded us into a more focused tournament run. This year wasn't a loss. But we did something we haven't done all season and hopefully that's a good step for us. I thought tonight was the first night we've played a little more Hiland basketball than we have all season long."