BERLIN—Hiland's defense held Cincinnati Withrow to 19 points through three quarters, but the Tigers' offense came alive down the stretch, outscoring the Hawks 14-4 in the final frame to post a 33-28 victory in the finale of the first day of action at the Classic in the Country Challenge.

Withrow coach Dante Harlan said Hiland's defense was the best man-to-man team his squad has seen all year.

"It's not even just on the ball. You know if you get past them, you've got one or two other kids waiting for you," Harlan said.

Hiland led the entire game until Debriell Starkey stroked a 3-pointer with 3:35 to play to give the Tigers a 29-27 lead.

The Hawks had several opportunities down the stretch to tie the game or take the lead, but could not connect, which left Hiland head coach Dave Schlabach scratching his head.

"This team has the same MO, there's no consistency and we can't finish a game," Schlabach said.

The two teams battled each other tooth and nail for every point, clawing their way to a 6-6 score after one period.

Regina Hochstetler scored a pair of driving buckets to give the Hawks a 14-8 lead late in the first half.

Withrow scored the final five points of the half to trail by one (14-13) at intermission. Hochstetler paced Hiland's attack with eight points.

"We really needed a big win for our team for confidence," Hochstetler said. "We're not going to let this happen again."

The Hawks finished the night shooting 11-for-51 from the field, including one 3-pointer out of 13 attempts.

Starkey said it was a big thrill to play before such a big crowd.

"It was intimidating at first, the crowd got them hyped," the Tigers' top scorer with 11 points said. "Once we got settled in, we got hyped, too."

Harlan praised his team for being able to pull out a tough win against such a quality opponent.

"I hope my girls realize the magnitude of this win," Harlan said. "When you talk Ohio girls basketball, you mention Coach Schlabach's name. He's definitely one of the great coaches, a guy I respect."

Hiland dropped to 8-3 with the loss. Withrow improved to 10-1.