BERLIN -- Hiland's girls basketball team filed off the court with a bad case of deja vu after its game against Div. III powerhouse Regina.

Much like last season's Div. IV state championship bout against Columbus Africentric, the Hawks controlled the tempo and the scoreboard for the first half against the Royals.

Hiland led Regina 34-25 at the break and was up by 14 points in the third quarter before the Royals rallied their way to a 60-56 comeback at the Reese Center in the first and only time the two standout programs will ever meet on the court.

"We have not been down by 14 points in five years," said Regina coach Pat Diulus. "But we are a championship ballclub, and we showed that in the second half."

The turning point came with 2:36 remaining in third quarter, when Royals went on a 10-2 run bringing their deficit to just five points with one period remaining.

From there, Regina (15-2) focused on defense and all but shut down Hiland's offensive effort, holding the Hawks (15-2) to just 1-of-4 from the field in the fourth quarter as the Royals tried to milk the clock and protect the lead they had gained on a pair of Nirra Fields foul shots with 6:20 to play. That put Regina up 51-49 and it held the upper hand the rest of the way.

"We can't feel good just because we battled," said Hiland coach Dave Schlabach. "We can't let ourselves off the hook. We have to have the ability to finish. If we defended and rebounded, we would have left here feeling real good."

Schlabach said after the game, he and his staff "talked about how we ended last season and our inability to stop runs and put people away. If we don't bring it up, then we can't figure out how to handle it."

It appeared as though the Hawks had their game plan hatched out in the first half. Hiland held Regina standout and Florida State recruit Tay'ler Mingo (13 points) scoreless and kept the remaining Royals below 35 percent from the field.

"We shut them out of their zone for a while, then they came out with their man and we just didn't execute," Schlabach said. "Usually we want people to pressure us because we think we play our best when we are pressured, but we didn't handle it well tonight."

The one player Hiland didn't have an answer for all night was sophomore guard Nirra Fields, who posted a double-double with a game-high 31 points and 12 rebounds, scoring in a wide variety of ways. Fields hit three 3-pointers, and also showed a mid-range jumper as well as the ability to drive to the basket.

"She is an outstanding player," Diulus said. "She is getting looks from everyone from the University of Connecticut on down and she's only a sophomore."

In the second half, Regina honed in on Hiland senior Noelle Yoder's hot hand, eliminating her from the equation.

"Our kids showed what we need to show and kept Yoder down in the second half," Diulus said.

Yoder (27 points), who has been out of commission with a knee injury for the past 12 days, hit four 3-pointers in the first half, and was 9-of-13 from the floor for the night. But she was limited to 10 points after halftime.

"They did a nice job shutting down Noelle in the second half," Schlabach said. "But we knew they weren't going to let her stand there and take shots from 22-feet all night. We needed to find a way to get her the ball and couldn't."

The Hawks would have benefited from another player putting up double digits as well. Hilary Weaver, Jessica Stutzman and McKenzie Miller were the closest with seven points each.

"Our intent was to win this game, we just didn't finish, especially at the defensive end," Schlabach said. "We let them get too many second-chance points and let them get to the rim too many times late.

"The main difference between this game and last year's championship game is our season goes on," Schlabach added. "We just can't let this affect our game on Saturday."