MILLERSBURG -- For two quarters the girls basketball "Battle for Holmes County" lived up to the hype at The Dungeon Monday.

The West Holmes' girls basketball team hung with cross-county rival Hiland, trailing by just three points at halftime.

But before any kind of comeback could be made, the Knights' wheels -- better known as senior point guard Lindsey Arnold -- fell off and the Hawks (7-0) prevailed 48-29.

With 5:31 left in the third quarter, Arnold (nine points, three rebounds, two steals) picked up her fourth foul and was bench-stricken for the remainder of the period.

"There's no question that Arnold getting that fourth foul was really big," said Hiland coach Dave Schlabach. "The final score was not really indicative of the battle out there tonight."

Arnold did come back at the start of the fourth quarter, but fouled out with 2:20 left in the regulation.

"We count on her being on the floor and when she's not, some of the kids get nervous," said West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson. "Sooner or later we are going to need another guard to be able to come in and handle the ball."

Poor ball control and an intense Hawks press ended up forcing the Knights into 21 turnovers.

Hiland capitalized on the West Holmes (5-2) miscues, scoring 14 points off turnovers.

"We had unforced turnovers and were making poor choices on passes," Patterson said. "We didn't do a good job handling their press."

Another key to the Hawks' victory was impressive play from Bowling Green State University-bound point guard Noelle Yoder.

Yoder, who moved from the West Holmes school district to Hiland before her junior season, was unfazed by the heckles from the Knights' student section as she poured in a game-high 15 points, including three trifectas.

"This was a tough game for Noelle to be in," Schlabach said. "In the second half, she calmed down and took whatever their defense gave her."

The 5-foot-7 senior helped Hiland into its first double-digit lead of the game by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers with 2:52 to go in the third period.

Up 31-22 going into the final quarter, all Hiland needed to do was maintain control, which, for the most part, it did.

The closest the Knights would come to the Hawks was within nine, when senior Shelbie Henderson connected for two of her six points off the bench with 6:01 left to play.

"I thought Shelbie did a great job for us tonight," Patterson said. "She really picked it up, which is what you expect out of your seniors."

For Hiland, seniors played an important role as well.

Along with Yoder, veterans Hilary Weaver (10 points, five rebounds), Jessica Stutzman (game-high six rebounds) and Katelyn Stuckey (six points) gave complete-game efforts, while junior Arrianna Schrock had a big game off the bench (five points, game-high six rebounds).

Schrock, who missed about a month of practice due to an injury, has been gradually worked back into Hiland's varsity rotation.

"Arrianna came in and played two good quarters for us," Schlabach said. "It was nice that she broke through. One by one, kids are stepping up and making plays."