What do you do when almost all our rebounding disappears, only to be replaced by a bunch of kids who are, how to put this, height-challenged?

You teach them a lot about heart and desire, and hope that come game time, they find ways to snag some boards.

That is the challenge facing Hiland's Dave Schlabach, who knows a little bit about tiny guard play, considering he was one himself in his days at Hiland and Malone College.

This year's Lady Hawks will be facing some obstacles coming off a year where they stunned many by reaching the Div. IV State finals. In an odd way, this will be a year unlike most and similar to many for Schlabach.

"Apparently the formula we need to follow is to lose seven games in a row," said Schlabach with a chuckle, alluding to last season's losing streak which culminated in a State finals appearance.

"Seriously, I think what was good about last season was that it served as a good reminder that no matter what happens in the regular season, there is always a possibility that a team can go on a run come tournament time."

Schlabach said that last season the team was on the brink of packing it in during the late season swoon, but gathered themselves and gained so much confidence that it seemed to multiply with each tournament win.

What resulted from that was a great deal of experience for the younger Lady Hawks who are back this season, and according to Schlabach, there will be a wild competition all season long to see who wants to earn playing time.

The one thing that Schlabach wanted to see from his team last season was how they reacted to the brutal schedule that saw them playing over their heads at times against some amazing competition. That set the stage for the Lady Hawks to roll into tournaments with a none-too-stellar 11-9 mark, but because of the level of competition they faced, they were ready to make a late-season run.

"With the way we got beat up, had we not had success late, they may not have believed that kind of schedule pays off," said Schlabach. "They know now that the formula works, and it gives us incentive to battle hard throughout the year regardless of our record."

That leaves another inhumane schedule for the Lady Hawks, whose slate won't get any easier this time around. Included on the docket are state powerhouses Twinsburg, West Holmes, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Wadsworth, two formidable opponents at Classic In the Country in Damascus Maryland and Uniontown Lake, as well as local contenders Wooster and Garaway.

It is a schedule not for the faint of heart, and Hiland will be faced with a huge challenge. Gone are the four leading rebounders from last season, and this year's version of the Lady Hawks are pretty short on size.

"We may not have looked really pretty last year, but we won almost every game on the glass, and that kept us in games," said Schlabach. "Those are holes we are going to have to work hard to fill because we are really tiny."

This summer, the Lady Hawks were led in rebounding by diminutive guard Jenica Schrock, who proved that rebounding isn't all about size, but rather about heart.

She will be joined by fellow 5-foot-5-inch starters Emily Yoder and Kendra Schlabach, with the only true post player being Jasmine Goings, who came off the bench to provide Hiland with some valuable scoring last season.

Schlabach will instead hope that the team's quickness and depth will allow them to run up-tempo all over the floor.

He admits that the team is more skilled overall than last season, and much quicker. He added that the guards have been through the ringer the past two years, and they understand the pressures that come with big games.

But unlike last season, the focal point of the offense will not be to find McKenzie Miller, Hiland's All-Ohioan who did the bulk of the scoring the past two years. Instead, it will come from any of the 10 players Schlabach puts on the floor, and on some nights the Lady Hawks may not have anyone in double figures but still manage to put up some decent offensive numbers.

"I don't know where the scoring will come from on any given night, but we'll get a little bit from everywhere," said Schlabach. "Good or bad, we aren't going to give one kid a ton of looks. We will spread it around, take advantage of mismatches and score on up-tempo fast breaks. It would be nice to develop that consistent scorer, but we aren't going into the season thinking that if a certain kid doesn't score we won't have a chance."

One player who may well factor into both scoring and rebounding will be Natalie Nickol, a 5-foot-10-inch senior who recently signed to play ball at Ursuline College next season.

With a scintillating summer, Nickol went from a non-entity last year to being a staple this season.

"She has worked incredibly hard to improve her game," said Schlabach of Nickol.

Hiland will also look to junior Regina Hochstetler to pick up some of the scoring slack. Hochstetler was at times last year unstoppable when she got on a roll. However, her coach is looking for some consistency this season.

Sophomore Megan Beachy came on late last season, while Sasha Goings and defensive specialist Rachel Horn will add to the depth. Perhaps one of the most important stories will be how sophomore guard Benay Miller responds to a season-ending knee surgery last year. Miller looked solid before going down with a torn ACL, and her return would aid the Lady Hawks immensely.

"We've got 12 kids who can score at the varsity level," said Schlabach of his team's depth. "This is the most competition we have ever had for all spots. Numbers three through 12 are all up for grabs, and right now I couldn't tell you who will be three, four and five. That is really good for us in practices and competition in driving each other to get better."

Because of that depth the Lady Hawks will look to push the tempo and force turnovers to embellish their scoring.

One thing will be certain, however. This will be Yoder's team to run from the point.

Yoder took off about mid season last year and faced several really quick, really skilled point guards. She came away having played her best basketball, and that propelled her confidence to a point where it became her team to guide.

"At this point it is her and Kendra who have stepped forward as the leaders," said Schlabach. "But Emily really has upped her game. It is nice when the point guard is the hardest working kid on the team."

Whether they can rebound with the big teams or not, the 2012-2013 Lady Hawks should be fun to watch as they fly all over the court.