MASSILLON -- The Hiland girls unleashed an all-out aerial assault on Windham, dropping a quartet of 3-pointers in the opening two minutes of the game, while forcing the Bombers into six turnovers on their first six possessions in opening up a 14-0 lead.

Things never got any better for the Bombers, as Hiland blasted Windham out of the gym 64-9 in the Div. IV regional championship Saturday at Perry High School.

"We ran into a very good team. They made us do things we don't normally do," said Windham coach Greg Isler. "I don't know if we ever relaxed all night long. That's a tough way to play basketball. And they make you uncomfortable. That's the best defense we've seen all year.

"They guard the ball extremely well. They make it difficult to cut the lane. There's just no space to move."

Emily Yoder got the Hiland assault started with a layup, and McKenzie Miller soon followed with a 3-pointer off a turnover. Another Windham miscue and Meagan Hall dropped a 3-point bomb.

Another turnover, another triple, this time from Miller, forced Isler to call a timeout, down 11-0.

The Hiland defense forced 37 Windham turnovers that led to 36 points in the lopsided regional romp.

The lead was 15-2 after the first quarter, but the Hawks weren't finished, holding Windham to one basket in the second quarter in building a 33-4 halftime lead.

In the second quarter, the Hawks pounded it into their post, where Jasmine Goings got three easy buckets, and Bria Coil another.

Windham scored on its first two trips down the floor in the second half, but didn't score again until Morgan Schreiner split a pair of free throws with three minutes left in the game, and that was all the Bombers could muster in bowing out with a 17-8 record.

"Defensively right now, our kids are pretty good," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "We're able to put enough pressure on people, and unless you're really, really skilled, you'll have a tough time scoring against us.

"I'm excited for our group," the coach continued. "I've said it a lot here lately, but our schedule has paid off. We had to guard incredible athletes week after week, and all of a sudden, here we are."

And here is heading back to Columbus.

The Hawks will play in the Div. IV state semifinals on Thursday.

"All of our hard work has finally paid off," Hall said. "It feels good. We went through so many struggles in the season. We just pulled through it and kept saying, we can still do this. And it finally happened."

Hiland had three players finish in double figures, led by Regina Hochstetler's 14. Miller added 12 and Goings chipped in 11. Hall added eight and Coil six for the winners.

"They were a good team. We just wanted it so bad, we were going to do whatever it took to win," Miller said. "The fast start was good, because last game we didn't get it started. It was really nice to start fast and get the butterflies out of the way.

"We have been though all the highs and all the lows together," Miller added. "All of us are like sisters. We're all best friends and I've never been part of a team like that. A lot of people doubted us, but we've come together at the right time.