The road to success is littered with potholes and detours, pitfalls and adversaries.

For the Hiland Lady Hawks, the 2011-12 basketball campaign is no different, and this year, coming off of an 18-6 campaign in which Hiland fell to even tual State tournament qualifier Shadyside by three points in the District semifinal, that road back to Columbus is going to be as tough as it has ever been, thanks to a District tournament that features no less than five teams which will be eyeing a ticket to Regionals.

"I'm not stretching here, but our District this year may be the toughest in the State," said Hiland coach Dave Schlabach, who enters his 21st season with the credentials of a future hall-of-famer. "It is going to be a real meat grinder just to get out of Districts for any team this year."

All talk of finding a spot at Regionals usually begins with Schlabach's Lady Hawks, and for good reason. Over his 20 seasons, Schlabach has captured 18 Inter-Valley Conference titles. He has matched that with Sectional titles. His nine district titles have led to that same number of Regional championships, and four State titles. His 421-60 overall mark is every coach's envy.

However, basketball, as is every other sport, is a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" game, and after Shadyside handed the Lady Hawks a District defeat last season, they certainly consider themselves the team to beat, especially having lost only two players from last season's State qualifier.

Then there is Zanesville Rosecrans, once the proverbial thorn in Schlabach's side. After several years of down time, Rosecrans is returning to the formidable foe it once was, and with an athletic, successful team which boasted no less than five phenomenal freshman starters last year, the Lady Bishops are poised to reclaim the status the school formerly had enjoyed. Strasburg is a team which is athletic and capable of doing plenty of damage, a perfect example coming last season when the Lady Tigers gave Hiland fits at every turn. Strasburg has ample talent coming back to do the same again, and the team has high hopes.

Then there is another old, familiar foe which makes its reappearance in the Div. IV District after years of playing Div. III. Garaway comes back to roost in the New Philadelphia Sectional, armed with what Schlabach calls the best big player in the area in Anya Misko, and a somewhat large chip on its shoulder. Over the past two decades, no other team has consistently given Hiland problems as Garaway has, and this season should prove to be another knock-down, drag-out battle between the two schools, which play twice in the regular season and could well see each other again at Districts.

Yes, a meat grinder extraordinaire. "Shadyside lost two kids and they went to State last year, Rosecrans is going to be a top five team in the state the next three years, and then you've got Garaway who has always been so tough to beat, and Strasburg, who has everyone back from a solid team. I think with that line up, we've got the toughest district in the state. I think whoever comes out of this thing will definitely compete for the top spot."

For the Lady Hawks, the disappointment of their District loss in close fashion to Shadyside may have been exactly what it takes to propel them to strive to achieve greater things this year.

While most schools would probably love to carve out an 18-6 record and make the District title game, the Hiland Lady Hawks' winning ways over the years has set an incredibly high standard of success.

Schlabach admits that he rode his squad last season, at times being brutal on them, as he tried to get them to understand that the season is more than just working hard during the season.

After a quality summer this year, he has been equally high in his praise for the team's efforts this offseason, and gladly doles out kudos for his players' efforts on and off the court.

"Our program probably needed a year like that as a reminder," said Schlabach. "We kind of knew what was coming because of our effort and mentality in the offseason coming into it next year. We had great kids, but we didn't work. We weren't competitive against good teams. We weren't very goal-oriented.

"But we have changed in that, and we feel a lot better about things going into this year. It's a different attitude."

One thing that hasn't changed from last year is the play of senior leader McKenzie Miller, who was, at times last season, the only offensive threat the team could muster. A second team All-Ohioan who recently signed on to continue her career at Ashland University, Miller brings a great deal of leadership on the floor for the Lady Hawks.

"Every leader is different, and everyone leads by their own personality," said Schlabach. "We've had demanding leaders in the past, but Kenz leads in her own way. She is a very encouraging, positive type of leader who goes out there night after night, whether in a game or in practice, and works her tail off. She leads by her actions."

That is evident by her school-record number of charges taken, already by her junior year. But there is also the alarming evidence that she needed scoring help this season for the Lady Hawks to succeed, last year's Shadyside game a prime example. In that contest, Hiland led after one quarter by five points, but with Miller in foul trouble and on the bench in the second, the Lady Hawks did not produce one point.

This year, armed with greater confidence, Schlabach said that seniors Regan Miller and Meagan Hall, juniors Kendra Schlabach and Jasmine Goings and sophomore Regina Hochstetler should all provide ample scoring on a nightly basis, to take some of the burden off of Miller.

Competition for almost all of the starting spots was crucial to the improvement of the team, and Schlabach said that drove his players to have to excel more this summer.

"Getting beat in Districts changed our mentality," said Schlabach. "I think the kids realized that they didn't give a typical Hiland effort in the offseason. It's been a completely different outlook this offseason.

"Our expectations remain as high as ever. It's just going to be a whole lot tougher than it ever has been to get through this District."