BERLIN —The Reynoldsburg girls basketball team has a lineup than includes a pair of posts that are 6-foot-2 and 6-3.

For comparison sake, Hiland has one player on its roster taller than 5-8.

Yet at the the end of the Classic in the Country's Day 1 finale, it was the undersized Hawks that came up with the big boards, big plays and, most importantly, made the big statement.

After unseating West Holmes earlier this season, Hiland (12-0) notched another signature victory with a 54-41 victory Saturday at the Perry Reese Community Center. Even with 6-3 freshman post Jalynda Salley, considered one of the top freshmen in the country, the Hawks managed to outrebound the Raiders 35-33, including 13 offensive boards.

"Reynoldsburg came into this game plus-21 on the glass and we outrebounded them by two," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "That was huge. We have not been outrebounded this year. Against those size of athletes, for our kids to continue to battle is awesome."

Hiland burst out of the gate on an 18-5 run in the first 9 minutes, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Rachel Horn and another from freshman point guard Kennedy Schlabach, along with two buckets from Jessica Troyer. Reynoldsburg, however, eventually answered with a roll of its own, cutting the margin to 21-20 at intermission and taking a 31-28 lead with 4 minutes left in third.

From there, though, the Hawks went on an 18-3 blitz. Angela Troyer pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on a stickback, Megan Beachy and Brittany Miller both converted a pair at the line, and then Alex Troyer nailed a mid-range jumper to retake the lead at 36-31. While Reynoldsburg (8-6), a perennial Div. I power, then got a 3-pointer, the Hawks reeled off 10 unanswered points, including two consecutive treys from Kennedy Schlabach as well as layups from both Horn and Alex Troyer.

"I was open," the rookie floor general, who had a game-high 15 points, said with a smile. "You hit one and then you want to hit another."

Coach Schlabach said the difference was Hiland's ramped-up intensity on the other end.

"We changed our press from a straight man-to-man to some run-and jump stuff," he said. "That's where we got our energy. We got some turnovers and Rachel Horn got some steals."

What was telling about the Hawks' victory was that they won the game despite shooting just 33 percent from the field, including 6 of 25 (24 percent) from long range. Usually, when an undersized team knocks off a much larger counterpart, it's because the squad's perimeter shooters are lights out. In Hiland's case, though, while none of the Hawks would be taller than Salley even when standing on a stepstool, they managed to simply outmuscle the Raiders. Salley was held to 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting and just four rebounds, none of which were offensive.

"We knew this was a difficult challenge and it'd be another opportunity to prove ourselves," said Alex Troyer (5-7), who pulled down six boards. "It was all will and hustle."

"They're just strong and scrappy," said Reynoldsburg coach Jack Purtell, whose team plays one of the toughest schedules in the state. "We tried to pound it inside (to Salley) and they did a good job of being physical with her."

After the team's season-opening win over Tuscarawas Central Catholic, coach Schlabach said it would take 10 to 12 games to find out just how good the Hawks are. Hiland's resume now includes snapping rival West Holmes' 33-game winning streak, a victory over towering Reynoldsburg and the No. 1 AP ranking in Div. IV. Coach Schlabach said what has gotten the Hawks this far is that his undersized squad plays with quite a large chip on its shoulder.

"I told our kids in the locker room to be extremely humble after this win," he said. "If we ever start to think we're really good -- we're winning games because of our anger and our effort -- and if that changes, then everything else will change, too."

The Hawks may not think they're very good, but their resume -- which got quite a boost Saturday -- certainly says otherwise.