Fairy tales do come true.

Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and bear down to make them happen.

Four years ago when Hilary Weaver was ending her eighth grade season playing for the young Hiland Lady Hawks, she sat down with Hiland coach Dave Schlabach for her exit meeting in anticipation of having one large question answered: What did she have to do to, a) become the starting point guard for the Hiland Hawks in her freshman season, and b) earn a major Division I scholarship.

Often times huge expectations are met with disappointment, especially when the coach throws out some answers which would break most kids right on the spot.

But Weaver is far from a normal kid, and she took the answers she got from Schlabach and put into motion a series of events which would eventually lead to two results: The first was her gaining a starting spot on the Hiland varsity team her freshman year. The second was earning a full-ride scholarship to Lehigh University, a school for which she had longed to go for both its excellent basketball program and its immaculate reputation as one of the nation's leaders in education.

The story of an athlete arriving at a Div. I school on a full-ride is not an easy one. The journey is littered with trials and tribulations which have sidetracked many athletes who are on that quest. For Weaver, those trials were simply ways to increase character, feed her desire and drive her to new heights.

"I guess it all really started in seventh grade watching all of those great Hiland teams play, and seeing all of the players earning their way into college," said Weaver. "It opened my eyes, and made me see the bigger goals that come with competing and winning. When I was faced with some pretty tough demands when I talked with Coach after my eighth grade season, they were pretty demanding. But I'm the kind of person who loves challenges, and if these challenges were what was going to get me to the point I needed to get to attain what I wanted, then so be it. I was going to do them. I love proving people wrong when they don't think I can do something."

Schlabach knew he had a player in Weaver, but how dedicated she was going to be would soon be fleshed out.

Schlabach can still remember the day when Weaver entered his office, a scrawny junior high kid with big expectations and an even bigger desire to succeed. He recalls a young woman who was ready for whatever it was going to take to become a Division I player.

The conversation actually began with her coming in and telling me that she wanted to be my starting point guard during her freshman year," said Schlabach. "She wanted to know what she had to do to make that happen. It didn't matter to her who was there now, or who she had to compete against to get the job, she only knew that is what she wanted."

The fact that Hiland already boasted some decent talent at the guard spot in future All-Ohioans Jena Stutzman, Lydia Miller and Karli Mast mattered little to Weaver. Nor did the not-insignificant fact that the Lady Hawks were in the midst of a pretty impressive run to Columbus.

Weaver only knew what she desired in her heart, and all she needed to know was what had to happen for her to get where she wanted to be.

Schlabach recalls providing some of the most ludicrous summer goals he has ever doled out, only to watch the player who would one day set the school mark for career assists, walk through his office door having achieved them.

"I threw out some of the craziest goals I could think of for Hil," said Schlabach. "I think I asked her to go through the gym rat program and give me 60 hours of practice in June and July. She went out and did it. No matter what I would throw at her, she would do. It was ridiculous."

Throughout Hiland's summer ball, Weaver came off the bench -- not a position to which she was accustomed. Rather than accept defeat she simply worked harder. Her tenacious attitude and drive not only made her a great player, but it inspired her teammates as well, and when the season rolled around, there was the freshman, calling out plays at the point guard spot.

A state title her sophomore year was exactly why Weaver works as hard as she does. However, last year saw the Lady Hawks falter down the stretch in the state final game against Columbus Africentric, when they blew a 16-point second half lead and lost the title game.

Some people are defined by their victories. Others are defined by how they react following excruciating losses. For Weaver, the defeat was especially tough, because she considered herself the team leader. In addition, Weaver was playing on half a leg, having suffered a knee injury at the beginning of the tournament run. Hobbled, and unable to move with the same explosiveness she was accustomed to, Weaver was ineffective against an athletic Africentric group.

"That killed me... it killed all of us," said Weaver of the pain of watching the lead evaporate, along with the title. "You can either learn and grow from experiences like that or let them eat you up. I'd like to think we grew from it."

Schlabach said one of the most interesting traits defining Weaver is not wins and losses, but simply her obsession with being the best, win, lose or draw.

"With Hil, it's always about maxxing out her potential, no matter what the situation," said Schlabach. "That's the way it was when she walked into my office as an eighth-grader; it's how it has been year after year in the program; it's the way she is in the classroom, and it's why she will stand at the podium as the class valedictorian this year. Hil and Launa Hochstetler have been the most driven players I have had in all my years. There are no excuses, they just do whatever is necessary to succeed."

Early in the tournament run this year, the Lady Hawks were coming off of a 50-point thrashing of Malvern in the sectional opener. Little energy was dispensed disposing of the Hornets. It was an easy game, in what should have been pretty much a day off for the players. But not Weaver, who apparently saw something she didn't like during the blow-out win.

Instead of going home, kicking back and relaxing, Weaver went straight to Schlabach's gym, where she turned on the lights after 10 p.m. and began working on her shot.

"We were putting the kids to bed, and I see the lights on in the gym," said Schlabach. "It's Hil, shooting. I told my daughter, can you imagine anyone else doing that? But that's Hil. She is so driven to be the best."

Weaver calls it not necessarily being driven, but more along the lines of self-motivation which keep her striving for excellence. All of the hours in the gym working alone day and night will never be seen by others, who will only judge a player by the results on the floor come game time.

"For me, this has always been about setting goals and accomplishing them," said Weaver. "Most people won't ever know the sacrifices it takes, but that doesn't matter to me. Only I need to know how hard I work, because I hold myself accountable to doing what is necessary to succeed."

Weaver confesses that there were times that the gym work and working out was the last place she wanted to be, but there were those goals staring her in the face, and she was not about to let them get the best of her.

She also knows that the drive and commitment she experienced brought her to a place where she was able to secure a spot on the Lehigh roster. "If it weren't for basketball, I never would be in the position of getting to a place where I have always wanted to be."

Along with the hard work comes being in the right place at the right time.

Sometimes a player can put in all the work in the world, and never get seen by D-I schools -- at least the ones they want to be seen by. Then there is always the possibility that when you do get looked at, you don't perform as well as you had hoped.

Because of her intense desire to play for a major Div. I college power, as well as one which provides the highest in academic standards, Weaver had set her sights on Lehigh University, a Patriot League member from Bethlehem, PA, which has about as well-respected of an academic program as you'll find in the U.S., and a traditionally Top-50 women's hoops program.

Lehigh assistant coach Glen Rigney had seen Weaver on several occasions, but hadn't seen enough to commit to signing her. According to Tom Jenkins, who puts out the Ohio Girls' Basketball Report, his summer AAU team consisted of Weaver, and two other talented point guards, including Regina superstar Taylor Mingo, who was committed to Florida State.

Oddly, both of the guards playing with Mingo were looking at Lehigh as a possible suitor. While one eventually chose to attend Bowling Green, Weaver was adamant that Lehigh was her top choice.

Because of the respect Jenkins has achieved nationally as a judge of talent, Rigney decided to take another look at Weaver. Jenkins used what leverage he had and got Hiland into a summer tournament in Maryland called The Best of Maryland, in which some of the East Coast's best teams have at it.

"It's the best high school event in America," said Jenkins. "There are at least 250 college coaches in attendance, and it worked out that Hiland was one of the 24 teams to get invited."

Between Jenkins and Schlabach, many long hours were spent on the phone and in person, trying to get Weaver another shot at Lehigh. This would be her best chance.

Yes, Jenkins had to pull some strings to get Weaver into position to be seen, but it would have to be Weaver who would be the one pulling the string on assists and jumpers under some serious scrutiny by college coaches looking for someone capable of running a Div. I team.

We spent a lot of hours getting Hilary in position to be seen, but in the end, that's all we did... put her in position," said Jenkins. "She had to do the rest."

Nine three-pointers in one game later, Weaver had opened some eyes at Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks had their point guard.

"These things don't just happen, said Jenkins. "A lot of work went into our part in keeping Hilary's name out there, and getting her to where she needed to be. A lot more work went into her honing her game and working hard to become the player she is.

People will probably never know how much time and effort goes into the making of a Div. I player. Getting players where they need to be, pulling strings, contacting people, that goes on more often than not. It isn't just a matter of being at the right place at the right time. In the same breath, Hilary closed the deal when she nailed those nine 3-pointers."

In that one moment in time, all of the dribbling for hours on end, all of the free throw shots in the gym, and all of the work which went into so many goals she had set for herself became a reality. She had found herself in a position to get what she wanted, and all of that time spent as a gym rat fell into place.

Were there major sacrifices? Without a doubt.

Was it worth it?

"Unquestionably," responded Weaver. "I have absolutely no regrets. I did this the way I wanted to do it in terms of practicing and sacrificing myself to something I believed in. This trip to getting to Lehigh has been unbelievable. My years here at Hiland have gone by like a blur. I've gotten chances to play, to go to the state tournament and win championships. Basketball has been everything I had hoped it would be."

And with her time on the floor, in the locker room and everywhere else the game has taken her, she has done so creating an extraordinary bond with the players and coaches in Schlabach's program.

"I know it sounds kind of corny, but we've become like family through all of the time we've spent together" said Weaver of the Lady Hawks team. "We have laughed together, cried together and worked side by side together. I've got so many great memories from this experience. And I truly feel that what has come out of this more than anything else, even more than the basketball side of it, is the relationships I have made with my teammates and coaches. I think I am more pleased with that than anything else."