It may not have been David versus Goliath, but in the 2012-2013 season, every time Dave Schlabach's Lady Hawks walked out on the floor, it seem as though they were looking up.
Small in stature but mighty in heart, the Lady Hawks turned in another banner season, in which they once again found their way to the last game of the year at center court in Columbus on the final day of the season.
That day ended in heartache, with a 57-42 loss to Fort Loramie, but it sure was quite a ride getting there.
Coach Schlabach likes a good challenge, and it started right out of the gate, Hiland taking on the defending Div. I State champion Twinsburg Tigers.
Even without their star point guard Ashley Morrissette, Twinsburg is formidable, and the Lady Hawks took them right down to the wire, leading by double figures with less than four minutes remaining, Twinsburg (this year's Div. I State runner-up) rallied for a 49-45 win, but Hiland had showed the State it was ready for all challengers.
"Even without (Morrissette) they have four legitimate Div. I players on the floor," said Schlabach of Twinsburg. "We've just got to handle the pressure better than we did."
The table was set, and the schedule would be incredibly difficult, Schlabach loading up on some major competition.
Hiland got its first taste of IVC when it fended off a talented Strasburg squad 48-32 at Strasburg, then completely dismantled Malvern (77-9) and TCC (89-5). They then toppled Ridgewood 73-31 before arriving at the Reese Center for a showdown with rival Garaway.
The game would be as good as advertised, with Garaway leading until Jasmine Goings scored inside to forge a 40-39 lead. That would propel Hiland to a 46-41 victory and a huge leg up in conference play.
"We feel really good and fortunate to get out of here with a win. It was a great battle," said Schlabach, perfectly summing up the evening's fervent pitch.
Maybe feeling a bit fatigued after that battle, Hiland played what coach Schlabach deemed as their worst game of the year, falling to Wooster 65-59.
A little cellar-dweller IVC action got them back on track, as Hiland destroyed Newcomerstown 100-21 and Sandy Valley 87-21 to move to 7-2.
Then, displaying a little slice of perfection, Hiland rolled past St. Vincent-St, Mary 61-32, in a game which the Lady Hawks proved to themselves that they belonged.
"That was probably the best we have played, the kids executed, they were ready to play, and we sustained it throughout the entire course of the game," said Schlabach of the effort. "We've seen this (SV-SM) team play two or three times, and they are a really good team."
In that game Regina Hochstetler scored 19 points, most of them early on, and showed exactly how her year was going to pan out.
A 53-42 victory over a good Tri-Valley squad, and another solid win over Strasburg and additional wins over TCC and Malvern allowed Hiland to enter Classic in the Country X with some momentum at 13-2.
There, in front of two packed houses of 2,000 fans, Regina Hochstetler would put on her finest show of the year.
The sharpshooting junior drained 10 3-pointers in Hiland's two wins.
The first came in a 47-30 win over a huge Damascus, Md. team, in which Hochstetler scored 24 points including four treys. The second came in an even more stunning 58-50 win over Div. I Uniontown Lake, in which all Hochstetler did was score 30 points, including hitting 6-of-10 triples from downtown.
A 71-38 win over Ridgewood that saw Hochstetler stay hot, hitting six more threes, gave the Lady Hawks a little time to breath.
But not much, as the Lady Pirates were waiting in Sugarcreek for a rematch to determine an IVC champ.
Hiland earned a well deserved 47-33 win to secure yet another IVC title, when, after a sluggish 4-3 first quarter lead, the Lady Hawks went on a 19-5 second quarter spree that effectively gave them the game.
"You look at the game as four quarters, and we played right with them for the other three," lamented Garaway skipper Jim Monigold. "That was the ball game. They got hot, and we didn't get out to the perimeter like we had been in the first quarter, and they made some tough threes, and there is your difference in the game."
Kendra Schlabach (16), Megan Beachy (15) and Emily Yoder (10) paved the way for an easy 79-32 win over Newcomerstown, to move to 17-2.
Then came the season's most scintillating game, a 41-36 victory over West Holmes, Div. II's State runner-up this year.
In that game, Megan Beachy stepped up huge, the sophomore scoring 14 points to lead the Lady Hawks. Kendra Schlabach showed her senior leadership by nailing down the victory with four straight free throws late.
"There was a lot of pride shown out there by both teams," said Coach Schlabach. "It was a physical war. Both teams showed that they're about defensive toughness, depth and physical play and both had people diving on the floor the whole game."
An easy win over Sandy Valley was followed by a whipping at the hands of Div. I powerhouse Wadsworth, who dealt Hiland a 61-37 setback heading into tournament play.
But the tough schedule would pay dividends down the road.
TCC fell to the Lady Hawks 81-9, and Hiland would earn a Sectional title with yet another tough win over Strasburg, this one a 44-42 victory.
Hannibal River gave Hiland all it wanted in a 46-36 win, and the Lady Hawks were then faced with a huge task, as the Zanesville Rosecrans Lady Bishops were hoping to exact a bit of revenge for least year's overtime loss in the Districts to the Lady Hawks.
Trailing by 10 late in the third quarter, Hochstetler calmly stepped into about a 30-footer and drilled it to keep Hiland within shouting distance.
Then, trailing 37-30 with seven minutes to play, Hiland inexplicably went on a 17- run to close out the game with a 47-37 victory.
The silence in the Rosecrans stands was almost deafening.
"A 17-0 run to finish, huh?" asked Coach Schlabach incredulously after the game. "We were finally able to wear them down. It just took forever. When we scouted them, we felt that we couldn't let the game get out of control. What I thought was unbelievable was that whenever the game felt like it was going to get out of hand, Regina hit a big three. It was unbelievable."
That would be far form the end of the fourth quarter heroics for Hiland.
Regional semifinals would see a hyper-athletic Lake Ridge Academy team hold Hiland to 3-of-21 shooting in the first half, the Lady Hawks trailing 16-8.
"We felt fine going into the half," said Schlabach. "We felt like if we only gave up 16 points in the second half we would win."
Sixteen? How about a 12-spot.
And while Hochstetler was held to zero points through the game's first 20 minutes, she exploded for 16 over the final 12 to push the lady Hawks to a comeback 38-28 win. In the game, senior Natalie Nickol provided the big spark on a three-point play that got Hiland going.
"Our defense kept us in this game long enough to figure it out offensively," said coach Schlabach. "I think if you're going to get to Columbus you're always going to have to win a game like this. Our kids have a tremendous amount of confidence in each other. You always think the run is coming, you just don't know when."
An almost anticlimactic 58-40 Regional final win over Cortland Maplewood would set the stage for a 13th appearance at State, the most by any girls team in Ohio.
It would begin with a thrilling 54-51 victory over Reedsville Eastern, which featured, believe it or not, yet another fourth-quarter rally for Hiland.
Trailing 46-43, Kendra Schlabach hit a jumper, and Jas Goings hit a free throw to tie things up in the fourth quarter. Hiland then shot ahead by five, only to have Reedsville tie it up at 51.
With 56 ticks left, Hochstetler would use the patented fake handoff, roll to the hoop and score the eventual game-winner, but not without plenty of drama.
Reedsville had a shot to tie it in the end, but a fantastic defensive play by Sasha Goings, who hit a huge three-point play earlier in the game, would secure victory for Hiland.
"We had to claw our way back and show a lot of mental toughness," said Coach Schlabach. "We're really proud of our group. We are a little small size-wise, but these kids play with a lot of heart and determination."
Then came the disappointment of the finals, where Fort Loramie's length and athleticism was just too much for Hiland. Hochstetler would follow her 24 point effort with a 23 point game, and Hiland would be within three late, but simply could not get past Fort Loramie, who dropped in 10 straight free throws to ice the game away.
"I thought Fort Loramie's pressure really made us feel uncomfortable," said Schlabach. "That is the best defensive team we have faced all year.
"But we are really proud of our kids and the year that they have had."
