Garaway led rival Hiland 9-0 to start the second round of the Route 39 rivalry last Thursday, but lurking in the shadows was the always prevalent Hawk run.

The shadows turned into daylight as Hiland took that 9-0 deficit and outscored the Pirates 38-19 the rest of the way en route to a 38-28 win and yet another Inter-Valley Conference title.

It was a game that saw the host Pirates doing nearly everything right to start the game as Ally Miller drained a 3-pointer, Kristen Troyer and Sarah Bardall hit two free throws each and Hallie Slemmer converted a layup on a pretty feed from Troyer for a 9-0 lead.

Then Hiland kicked in like Hiland always does.

Hilary Weaver started the comeback off with a traditional three-point play at the 3:05 mark for a 9-3 deficit and finished the first half with 10 of her game-high 17 points as Hiland led 20-17 by the intermission with a lead they'd never relinquish.

"It was a typical grind-out game with Garaway," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said.  "Obviously our depth became a factor.  Depth doesn't always pay off in the first four minutes, but it works as you get deeper into the game."

Hiland (16-2, 14-0 IVC) tied the score at nine just 18 seconds into the second quarter on a basket by Arrianna Schrock on a nice feed from Weaver.  Garaway (13-5, 11-3) broke an 11-11 tie with four unanswered points on baskets by Troyer and Andi Kettlewell, but Hiland went on a quarter-ending 9-2 run for the halftime advantage as Weaver scored seven of those points and Noelle Yoder, two.

The third quarter found the visitors outscoring Garaway 13-4 to go up 33-21 as Weaver and Katelyn Stuckey hit for five points each.  Garaway was just 1 of 6 from the field with six turnovers in the frame.

Hiland was outscored 7-5 in the final quarter but worked the ball around to end the game in true Pirate-like fashion.

"We knew they were going to counterpunch as often as they needed to," said Garaway coach Scott Bardall.  "In Game No. 1 we started strong, faltered in the second and fell apart in the third.  Tonight we turned the ball over six or seven times in the third quarter.  You can't do that against good teams.

"But I felt like we battled 'em on the boards, and I thought we did a nice job of containing Noelle (Yoder).  We did a better job of finishing around the basket and keeping them from getting a lot in transition.  We're not into moral victories but we did some good things."

Hiland was led by Weaver's 17 points.

"She was smart and found the right spots to attack," said Schlabach of Weaver.  "I thought she played smart."

Yoder kicked in 10 points with Stuckey putting in nine.  Other than Schrock's bucket, the rest of the Hawks were scoreless.  Yoder had five rebounds.

"We feel like for us to get to the next level we need one more scorer to step up.  They (Garaway) did a good job of limiting Noelle's touches so we need to find another person to step up."

Garaway was paced by Bardall's nine points and six rebounds and eight points from Troyer.  Slemmer chipped in six points while freshman Anya Misko had four rebounds off the bench.

"I think we proved we're pretty darn tough in the half court defensively," said Bardall.  "I think we can be very effective if we're able to convert some with teams who pressure us."