BERLIN—If the Wooster girls basketball team keeps this up, it won't be allowed back in Holmes County much longer.

A week after coming up with a 46-45 upset win over West Holmes, the Generals slayed another giant down south with a 48-43 victory over Hiland on Tuesday.

"This is a quality program," said Wooster coach Mike Baus. "It's hard to come in here and win."

The Hawks have had plenty of recent success on the big stage, but the Generals are just starting to turn the corner. While the Hawks won three state championships in four years from 2006-2009, last spring the Generals won a postseason game for the first time since 2005.

After falling behind 9-2 in the opening minutes, the Generals (7-1) took control for the rest of the game and led 44-38 with two minutes to play. However, Hiland (7-1) closed the gap with a pair of free throws from Jasmine Goings to cut the deficit to 44-40 and the Hawks then stole the ball and made it a one-point game (44-43) after McKenzie Miller canned a trey from the corner.

The Hawks' defensive pressure forced another steal at half-court and the Hawks ran down the floor and seemed poised to take back the lead for the first time since the second quarter. However, Hiland couldn't get the layup to fall. The Generals rebounded the ball and Lauren Walker came up with the bucket on the other end.

Miller tried to come up with the game-tying 3-pointer on the next possession, but the shot rimmed out. Wooster's Halle Gallo-Malta made both free throws, the first of which was the front end of a one-and-one, to ice the five-point win for the Generals.

"Those were two huge free throws," Baus said of his senior point guard, who finished with 14 points and three assists.

The Hawks got solid performances from Goings (16 points, 8-for-10 from the free throw line) and McKenzie Miller (19 points, five 3-pointers). However, after jumping out to an early lead, they let the Generals take control the rest of the way.

"We were just good enough to lose," said Hiland coach Dave Schlabach. "It spoiled a good effort from Jasmine and McKenzie, but we didn't get anything from anybody else. We haven't had consistency from our playmakers."

While Schlabach was happy with the defensive pressure his team applied late in the game, he said the team needed to turn up the intensity much earlier in the night and this contributed to a disappointing loss.

"We didn't play with that energy early on," he said. "We have to take advantage of the quality opponents we play. These are games that can turn your season around, but you have to win those games. With this group, there are no moral victories."

Schlabach said part of the Hawks' problem on defense was that they had no answer for the Generals' inside-outside combo of Gallo-Malta and Walker (team-high 18 points and five rebounds).

"Gallo-Malta is the best point guard we've played," he said. "We'd never seen Walker shoot the ball outside five feet and then she shot two 3s in the first quarter. She killed us in the post and on the boards."

With two straight big wins, the Generals continue to build momentum and, at 5-0 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, look like a serious challenger for the league title. The road, however, doesn't get any easier with a home matchup on Saturday against rival Orrville.

"There was a carryover from the West Holmes game," said Baus. "The girls had confidence. They were a little tired, but they played on adrenaline. We're still hoping the adrenaline will carry us -- Orrville will be tough."