Robbery. Outcry. Disbelief. A farce.

These are only a few of the words which describe the stunned attitudes of many a Hiland Lady Hawks girls basketball fans as they had to go deep into the Div. IV All-Ohio girls basketball honors to find Regina Hochstetler's name.

If one read diligently enough, they would eventually find the junior hoopster's name in the Special Mention category, along with about two dozen other recipients.

Perhaps in the eyes of the voting community, that spot is justified. After all, Hochstetler's 17.7 points doesn't jump off the page and slap you in the face.

But then again, it was right around the average of all of the first through third team selections.

Perhaps what really hurt Hochstetler was that she was coming off of a rather pedestrian sophomore season in which she was a stand-and-shoot guard. She kind of came out of nowhere for the voters, who probably did not have much of an inkling as to what she had done to get to where she was this year.

Then again, there is a possibility that she suffered from Hiland being too good, being at State too often and voters took the new age belief that everyone should get a piece of the pie these days.

Chances are very good that few of them had actually seen Hochstetler play the game.

If they would had, they would have watched a kid who carried her team at times to a sparkling 25-4 record against teams the likes of which few, if any, Div. IV teams have faced this year.

The schedule for the Lady Hawks this year was amazing. It is possible that Coach Dave Schlabach would have scheduled the Miami Heat if he could.

The schedule started off easy enough, with a date with defending Div. I State champion and 2013 runner-up Twinsburg. It ended with Div. I powerhouse Wadsworth. In between, the Lady Hawks squared off with Div. II two-time defending State runner-up West Holmes, State power St. Vincent-St. Mary, a top program Div. I Wooster, renowned Maryland program Damascus, Uniontown Lake, and they got Garaway twice.

That is nine incredibly tough opponents. Coach Schlabach knows how to throw together a meat grinder, that's for sure.

But then in the tournament run, all Hiland had to do was play Div. IV powers Zanesville Rosecrans (ranked fifth in the State) in District finals, Lake Ridge Acadamy (7th) in Regional semifinals, Reedsville Eastern (10th) and then finally Fort Loramie (6th).

That is some amazing competition, and Hochstetler often times took it upon her shoulders to carry the Lady Hawks offensively.

Not only that, but the defenders Hochstetler faced were always the very best the opponent had to offer, and everyone was scheming on ways to shut her down.

"Teams knew Gina had to score, and they did everything to stop her, but in the end she still performed and scored," said Schlabach. "And she was playing her best when we played our toughest competition."

Schlabach added that what has been the most impressive is that Hochstetler has completely retooled her game, and she is now an amazingly skilled player at all facets, not just shooting.

To her credit, Hochstetler never once cried foul, raised a stink or said word one about the Special Mention honor.

Truth be told, it was highway robbery that neither Emily Molnar nor Rachelle Morrison received even Honorable Mention status at the State level, while clearly inferior players were honored.

They too could easily have a gripe.

But to Hochstetler, the idea is to let her play do the talking for her. She understands how the system works, a bunch of media sports writers pimping their favorite locals, with little clue as to exactly how good of a year Hochstetler had.

She only sees it as a way to make herself better, to drive herself as she enters her senior campaign.

"I think that is only going to motivate me even more this summer to work even harder and get even better, and prove myself even more," said Hochstetler.

"All of that stuff really doesn't matter that much. "I know what we did this year and the great things we accomplished, and I am way more focused on helping my team get to the State tournament and winning a championship. I really don't care about medals and honors."

In a little bit of sticking it to the voters who shunned her this year, all Hochstetler did at State in two games was put up games of 24 and 23 points, while hauling in 6.5 rebounds per game, both team highs.

"I guess maybe a little," responded Hochstetler to the idea of showing the voters what she can do. "But what I really wanted to do was whatever I could to help our seniors win in their last game."