Thursday's trip to Garaway led to another knock down, grind 'em out battle between the Lady Hawks of Hiland and the Pirates.

Garaway set the tempo early, but Hiland methodically chipped away and eventually wore down the Pirates, throwing a new wrinkle at Garaway defensively to completely catch the hosts off guard in posting a 38-28 triumph.

Garaway led 9-0 before Hilary Weaver got the Lady Hawks going with a three-point play with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter. By the end of the period, Hiland had pulled within two, 9-7.

Arrianna Schrock scored on the first trip down the floor in the second period to knot things up at nine, and a 3-pointer by Weaver later in the frame gave the guests an 18-17 lead.  Another Weaver bucket gave Hiland a 20-17 lead at intermission.

Employing a zone trap to open the third quarter, Hiland held the Pirates to four points in the period as the Lady Hawks opened up a 33-21 advantage and held on down the stretch for the 10-point victory.

"This was your typical grind-out game with Garaway," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said.  "Our depth became a factor at the end.  It doesn't pay off in the first four minutes of the game.  Fortunately, there was another 28 minutes to go.

"Garaway does such a good job of being patient and limiting the amount of possessions in a game, we needed to do something to turn it up a notch," Schlabach added.

Hilary Weaver led all scorers with 17 points.  Noelle Yoder added 10 and Katelyn Stuckey scored nine for the winners.  Schrock's two points rounded out the Hiland offensive.

Sarah Bardall paced the Pirates with nine points and Kristen Troyer added eight.

The Lady Hawks moved one step closer to wrapping up another perfect season in the Inter-Valley Conference with a 68-31 thrashing of the Sandy Valley Cardinals Saturday, Feb. 13 in Magnolia.

A 26-8 first quarter run helped Hiland put the game away early.  It was 44-14 at intermission.

Noelle Yoder pumped in 19 points, burying five 3-pointers.  She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.

Jessica Stutzman was the only other Hiland player to reach double digits in points with 10.  The senior hit five-of-six from the field.

Several Lady Hawks contributed in many different ways.

Hilary Weaver scored six points and dished out 14 assists.

McKenzie Miller scored nine points and yanked down six rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

Katelyn Stuckey scored eight points and added five rebounds.  Arrianna Schrock chipped in six points, going three-for-four from the floor, and Regan Miller added five points.  Kendra Schlabach added three points and Bria Coil rounded out the offensive with a bucket.

The win improved Hiland's record to 15-0 in IVC action.  The Lady Hawks are 17-2 overall.