Time and time again this season, Hiland coach Dave Schlabach has said his Lady Hawks needed a test.

He said they needed to play a team more athletic than they are; a team that will not only push them to get better but prep them for the postseason.

"You never learn anything about yourself unless you play better people," Schlabach said.

Potter's House Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) - easily the most athletic team Schlabach has seen in his 20 years at Hiland - provided just that test.

Antoinette Bannister had 15 points, including 11 in the third quarter last Saturday to help fuel a 16-0 run that turned a tight game into a rout as Potter's House cruised past Hiland 77-54 in Game 7 of Classic in the Country VII at the Perry Reese Jr. Community Center.

Leading by seven at halftime (37-30), Bannister hit two deep 3-pointers and finished off a fastbreak with a pretty drive to help ignite the aforementioned 16-0 spurt that elapsed just over two and a half minutes and placed the Lions in the drivers' seat at 53-30.

"My first half was whack, so we came out in the third quarter and just got to it; it was like a whole new team," Bannister said.

"They can score as fast as any team I've ever seen," Schlabach said.  "They are relentless, and they are deep."

Potter's House (19-3) didn't make the trip from sunny Florida to snowy Ohio for nothing.  The Lions came to Berlin to win... and that's precisely what they did.

"People came to see us play... But in the first half it seemed that we couldn't do anything right." Potter's House coach Tony Bannister said.  "In the third quarter, we really got things together and started playing with more sense of team, rather than individualism."

Potter's House - ranked by ESPNRise.com as the No. 42 team in the country - outscored Hiland 26-5 in the third quarter alone.

Hiland - ranked No. 7 in the latest Associated Press girls' basketball poll - fell to 10-1 in its first test of the season.

"We enjoyed the competition," Schlabach said.  "Our kids get tired of all the blowouts... We felt like we played as hard as we could have played.  We had to battle - mistakes cost us and we learned a lot.  Our kids want to compete, and tonight, we got to compete."

Lehigh University recruit Hilary Weaver scored a game-high 18 points for Hiland, which got as close as 25-24 in the second when Weaver fed Arrianna Schrock for a three-point play.

Weaver was an incredible 5 of 5 shooting from the field and 8 of 8 from the line.

Hiland sophomore phenom McKenzie Miller added 11 points and six rebounds, and Bowling Green signee Noelle Yoder had 10 points.

But it was Bannister's game stealing performance in the third that stole the show.

The shooting guard - nationally ranked as the 10th best off guard in the junior class - rebounded from a rocky first half with an incredible third, scoring all but four of her points in the quarter to lead the Lions to a Classic victory.

The raucous sold-out crowd got the best of Bannister in the first half.  At halftime, she settled in.

Asked whether or not the crowd played a factor in the first half.  Antoinette Bannister flashed a big grin, then shyly looked away and shrugged.

"It did," coach Bannister interjected with a smile.

"We've played in hostile crowds.  But not like this crowd," he added.  "They were loud, man."

The Lions' Loliya Briggs also had 15 points with five rebounds, while Brittany Rountree kicked in 13 and 5.

After Hiland pulled to within 1 (25-24) with 5:32 left in the second, Briggs had four points and Alexis Brown scored on a slick one-handed runner to spark a 10-2 run and put Potter's House ahead 35-26.

But Yoder hit a pull-up jumper and the Lady Hawks cut the deficit to a manageable 7 at halftime.

"In the first half, we were right there.  I thought we had a chance," Schlabach said.  "We were just hoping to stay in this thing during the first half.. And then quickly it's a 25-point game and game over."

Despite being down, the Lady Hawks never gave up on a play, diving for loose balls with seemingly reckless abandon.  And two of the Lady Hawks' key players did so injured. Yoder was slowed by a left MCL sprain, while Jessica Stutzman continues to play with Compartment syndrome.

Weaver - who picked up two quick fouls early in the game - didn't exit the contest in the second half and scored 10 points in the fourth to single handedly orchestrate a late push.

Potter's House was stunned early by Hiland's suffocating press.  Hiland, on the other hand, was stunned for much of the game with the Lions.

"Team's that press all the time rarely get pressed.  That's like us; that's the first time we've been pressed." Schlabach said.  "They press people so much that nobody thinks that they can be pressed.  We're down 25, we're not going to just sit and watch - we're going to keep competing."

Bannister agreed.

"That part surprised me.  Our kids weren't expecting them to bring pressure back to us," said Bannister,  whose Lions won the NCSAA National Championship a season ago.  "We had some early turnovers, and it seemed like we could never get in a groove."

Rountree scored on a drive to open the fourth and give Potter's House it largest lead of the game at 30 (65-35).

Potter's House shot an impressive 51 percent (31 of 61 from the field, while limiting Hiland to 40 percent (16 of 40).