Daily Record Sports Writer
COLUMBUS -- At the end of February, the record of the Hiland girls basketball team, barely above .500, would indicate that the Hawks were closer to Coshocton than Columbus.
Then again, hardly anyone should be surprised that the tradition-rich program is one win away from the state championship.
With a 53-47 win over New Madison Tri-Village (25-2), the Hawks (19-8) won their eighth straight game and advanced to the Div. IV state championship game on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. While the Hawks went through a rough stretch a month ago when it lost seven of 10, the struggles of late January and early February are now a distant memory.
There aren't too many squads that win just 11 of their first 19 and are still playing during the third weekend of March. Hiland, however, isn't like most programs. Playing a schedule that featured many Div. I, II, and III schools in the first two months of the season, the Hawks are ending their season where so many other Hiland teams have ended theirs — on the season's final Saturday in Columbus.
"There have been years where people expected us to get down here," said Schlabach, who's won four state titles since 2000. "This wasn't one of those years."
The easy answer for Hiland's midseason slump was a non-conference slate that was more rugged than the Alps. Only one of the Hawks' seven losses during that 10-game stretch came to a team in Div. IV. Other than a 55-51 setback to Strasburg on Jan. 11, the rest were to a majority of schools that were ranked in the AP poll in Div. I and II.
As a result, the team took some lumps. The only other time Hiland lost as many as eight games came in Schlabach's first year in 1991-92.
While the Hawks were competitive in every single contest -- their worst loss came in a 44-31 defeat against West Holmes — they simply weren't clicking.
"We lost games against quality opponents," said Schlabach, "but we still found ways to lose."
The flip side of the midseason meat grinder, though, was that it prepared many of the team's younger players.
Sophomore point guard Emily Yoder was handed the keys to Hiland's attack and now has the Hawks' offense running efficiently, if unspectacularly. Yoder scored just five points on Thursday, but she dished out three assists and turned the ball over just once.
Yoder points to a 49-45 loss to North Canton Hoover on Jan. 16 in the Classic in the Country Challenge as a turning point.
"I gained my confidence in the Hoover game," said Yoder, "and learned how to handle the ball."
A month and a half after the Hawks couldn't get anything to go right,
Hiland is now doing the same things that have made it one of the most successful programs in the state, leaning on stout defense, relentless rebounding and timely shots. Against the Patriots, the Hawks enjoyed a 35-21 advantage on the glass and, while Div. IV Player of the Year Kayla Linkous still scored 19 points, this was six below her season average.
The Hawks shot just 35 percent from the field on the day, but when they needed a bucket, they got it from senior forward McKenzie Miller, who finished with a team-high 17 points and tied the Div. IV record for 3-pointers in a game with four.
Schlabach said that Miller is such an unselfish player that she didn't take over games the way she needed to earlier in the season.
"She deferred too much halfway through the year," he said, "which was one of our problems. She's our go-to player and I had a feeling she was going to have a good night."
Miller has responded by turning it up a notch not just yesterday, but for the entire postseason.
"I didn't want the season to end at sectionals, districts or regionals," said Miller. "I wanted to end it this Saturday."
While it wasn't apparent at the time, the tough losses in January and February are the main reason the Hawks are winning in March.
"It's not as fun in the middle of the year when you're getting beaten up," said Schlabach, "but it makes you better at the end."
