UHRICHSVILLE – In a game veteran Hiland coach Dave Schlabach called one of the ugliest he's ever seen, when the final buzzer sounded, it didn't matter how it was done. What mattered was the Hawks were moving on.

Hiland claimed another sectional title with a grueling 31-14 win over Conotton Valley Wednesday in the Div. IV sectional final at Claymont.

Hiland (18-4) will now play either undefeated Shadyside or Bridgeport at Indian Valley in the Div. IV District semifinal on Tuesday. The Rockets bow out at 6-16.

"That was something. I've never seen anything quite like this in my 22 years of coaching," Schlabach said. "It was ugly. I don't feel we deserve to move on. We deserved to lose."

The Hawks started off cold and sloppy, turning the ball over or misfiring on their first six possessions. Conotton Valley didn't fare much better.

The Hawks didn't get a field goal until McKenzie Miller stroked a 3-pointer more than five minutes into the contest. That bucket put Hiland up 6-2, and an Ashley Weaver stickback gave Hiland an 8-2 lead after the first quarter.

The Rockets knotted things up at 8-8 early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer and a jumper by Kearstyn Moore, but then neither team made another field goal the remainder of the first half.

Meagan Hall split a pair of free throws with 3:30 remaining in the first half for the lone point of the period for the Hawks, who led 9-8 at intermission.

"We lack mental toughness. When things don't go our way early in games, we tend to panic," Schlabach said. "I mean, we turned the ball over 20 times against a team that doesn't press."

Hiland picked up its intensity in the third quarter and Kendra Schlabach connected on a jumper and a 3-pointer to give the Hawks a 15-8 advantage.

The Rockets refused to go away, however, and cut it back to 16-12 before Regina Hochstetler swished a triple and Regan Miller stole the inbounds and knocked in a layup for a 21-12 advantage. Bria Coil stuck back an errant 3-point attempt and the Hawks held a 23-12 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Hiland played keep away from Conotton Valley in the final frame and hung on to post win No. 18 on the season.

"It's amazing that's the same team out there that beat Garaway and played with West Holmes and Africentric," Schlabach said. "I attribute that to lack of toughness. We warned them about 700 times this week not to overlook Conotton Valley."

Hiland had nobody reach double figures in scoring. Kendra Schlabach and Hochstetler paced the Hiland attack with seven points apiece.