Daily Record Sports Writer
SUGARCREEK—Hiland had a hard time hitting shots from the outside. But the Hawks more than made up for their poor perimeter play by making good on 7-of-8 free throws in the final 2:20 to pull out a 46-41 victory in round one of what should be three exciting rounds of action against neighboring rival and Inter-Valley Conference foe Garaway.
The Pirates, on the other hand, struggled mightily from the charity stripe, hitting only 9-of-22, which proved costly in the end.
"You've got to make your foul shots," said first-year Pirate coach Jim Monigold. "They made theirs at the end. We had a couple chances there. Nine-of-22, if we make half of those, that's 13 and we get the win. We'll work on that. We'll get better."
The tug-of-war went back and forth from the opening tip, but it was a three-point play by Jasmine Goings with 2:20 to play that gave Hiland a 40-39 lead the Hawks would not relinquish.
Garaway (4-1 overall, 3-1 in the IVC) had two chances to score at the other end but came up empty and Hiland made the Pirates pay as Emily Yoder swished two free throws and Kendra Schlabach did the same moments later. Regina Hochstetler iced the game with two more freebies as time expired.
"We made some big free throws late: Jas, Emily, Kendra, Gina," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "We feel really good and fortunate to get out of here with a win, especially after not shooting the ball very well.
The Hawks (5-1, 5-0) managed only 6-of-21 shots from beyond the arc, connecting on 14-of-44 shots from the floor overall.
"Games when you don't shoot well, they just look ugly," Schlabach said. "I didn't have a problem with our shots. There were maybe two or three badly timed or poor shots. But we were missing shots we're capable of hitting. That's our game. That's how we play. Sooner or later, they're going to drop and we'll get our run, which we got there, and good things happen."
The Pirates were playing without their leading scorer Courtney Putt, who was nursing an injury. But Garaway got great play from several other kids who stepped up and filled the bill.
"It was a great battle. I thought their kids stepped up," Schlabach said. "A lot of times when you have a great scorer who doesn't play like Putt, everybody else has to step up, and they had some supporting cast kids hit some huge shots for them throughout the night."
Garaway got 14 points from junior guard Abbie Slemmer and freshman guard Izzy Meese added seven. Slemmer did most of her damage early, scoring 10 in the first half as the PIrates eked out a 22-20 halftime lead.
Meese ran the offense and handled the Hiland pressure.
"Izzy's got the ball skills to compete with anybody," Monigold said. "She's one of those players you just want to get the ball in her hands. As a freshman, handling the ball against that pressure, she did a very good job for us, especially without Courtney (Putt) being in there to help her out.
"She stepped up. Abbie (Slemmer) stepped up tonight. That's what I ask of them, to be able to step in there, and I think they did," the coach continued.
"I thought we got after it pretty good, and she handled the ball extremely well," Schlabach said of the Pirates freshman point guard.
Garaway's senior post player Anya Misko, who has been a thorn in the side of the Hawks for years, was held to nine points and 11 rebounds.
"She got a lot of our focus. Every time she touched the ball, we were quick to double-team her," Schlabach said. "She was relentless on the glass. Of all the kids on both teams, she had really given a great effort. We ran a lot of people at her. She's tough to stop."
Garaway got a 3-pointer from Meese to open the fourth quarter, giving the Pirates their biggest lead of the game at 32-27.
Hochstetler, who led the Hawks with 17 points, answered with a triple to trim the lead back to 32-30.
After Meese split a pair of free throws, Yoder (12 points) hit a driving layup to cut the lead to 33-32.
A Garaway turnover and a 3-pointer by Hochstetler gave the Hawks a 35-33 advantage early in the fourth quarter, only to see the Pirates come storming back on a jumper by Meese and another from Stemmer. Garaway got its last lead at 39-37 on a bucket by Katie Walker with less than three minutes remaining in the game.
After a time out, Hiland ran a designed play for Goings to drive, which she did. The senior hit the shot and resulting free throw to give the Hawks a 40-39 lead. And they hung on from there.
"This was good for our kids. It was a tournament-type atmosphere," Schlabach said. "Things got really helter-skelter at the end. We didn't match up after a free throw and they shoot a lay-up. I think the kids need to go through this type of game as many times as possible. This was great for us."
Monigold liked his team's effort.
"We figured it was going to be a defensive battle, and if we could control the boards, we'd be in it," he said. "I think we were right to the end. A couple buckets go in for us, a couple foul shots, it's that close to being a different outcome.
"Games like this with Hiland, we expect that tournament atmosphere," Monigold added. "That's what we got tonight. I think we needed that. We haven't really gotten something like this just yet. It was a big crowd, and I got to see how we responded. I was pleased."
The rematch is scheduled for Jan. 26 in Berlin, with another potential meeting in the Eastern District tournament.
