Hawks win in a romp

By KEVIN LYNCH
Daily Record Sports Writer

BERLIN—Hiland coach Dave Schlabach knew he had a special player in Megan Beachy. Unfortunately for the veteran mentor of the Hawks, she was injured all last season and spent the season rehabbing her injured knee.

On Wednesday night in the Perry Reese Jr. Community Center, Beachy showed the Hiland faithful what her coach knew all along as she came off the bench and tossed in six first-half 3-pointers to lead the Hawks to an 89-5 thrashing of Turnover Central Catholic, that is, Tuscarawas Central Catholic.

"Last year we felt she was one of the best shooters in the program. Unfortunately, she was injured all year," Schlabach said. "I told her that her role for us would be very similar to what Regina Hochstetler's role was last year, and that is to come off the bench and be our second or third leading scorer. And she's done that.

"She's hitting open shots, playing with a lot of confidence, and the kids are finding her," the coach continued. "They understand that she's a really good shooter."

That she was on Wednesday, torching TCC for six straight triples before she missed one.

The Saints were nearly perfect in the first quarter, turning the ball over the first 10 times they had it. On their 11th possession, they finally got off a shot, a 3-pointer by Gabrielle Fredricks that trimmed Hiland's lead to 8-3.

TCC would not score again until late in the fourth quarter, ending a 78-0 Hiland run.

The Hawks struggled early from the field, misfiring on their first six shots before Emily Yoder turned a steal into a layup for a 2-0 lead.

Beachy then began her bombardment of the Saints, stroking a 3-pointer from the top of the key then following that up with one from the wing for an 8-0 lead.

That's when the Saints finally scored.

Beachy then split a pair of free throws and Kendra Schlabach turned a turnover into a layup and an 11-3 lead.

Beachy buried another bomb for a 14-3 lead and then hit a layup for a 16-3 advantage.

The junior connected on her fourth triple of the first quarter for a 19-3 lead, accounting for 17 of Hiland's 19 markers.

Sasha Goings scored on consecutive layups to finish off the first quarter for the hosts who led 23-3 after one.

Hochstetler then got in on the act, draining three 3-pointers, and Beachy busted two more from long range as Hiland built a 52-3 lead at intermission. Beachy scored all 25 of her points in the first half, going 6-for-7 from 3-point range, 9-of-12 overall.

Hochstetler finished with five triples, and 21 points, as Hiland hit 13 from long range on the evening out of 27 tries. TCC was 2-of-15 from the field overall with 31 turnovers.

Jasmine Goings, Sasha Goings and Kendra Schlabach each finished with eight points, and Natalie Nickol added six for the Hawks, who improved to 3-1 with the win, 3-0 in the IVC.

"The balance has been there. On any given night, we've got some kids who can have nights like this," Schlabach said.