NEW PHILADELPHIA — The Hiland girls basketball team got its closest tournament test, but it still wasn't very close.

River put up the most resistance the Hawks have met in the postseason and Hiland still led by double digits for nearly all of the final three quarters, eventually rolling to a 68-48 drubbing of the Pilots. With the win in Sunday's Div. IV New Philadelphia District final, Hiland has now won four tournament games by an average margin of 43 points. The Hawks (25-1), ranked No. 1 in the final AP poll, advance to the Massillon Regional, playing St. Thomas Aquinas in a semifinal on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at Perry High School.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Hiland led by as many as 27, but Hiland coach Dave Schlabach emphasized that River was the first real test his squad has faced in the tournament.

"It was a grind for us," he said. "We still had a lot of kids playing in their first big game. It was a good battle and I never really felt comfortable until the end."

River (22-4), meanwhile, never felt comfortable at any point during the game as Hiland's relentless pressure wreaked havoc on the Pilots. River committed 16 turnovers and nine of those came in the game's first 10 minutes. The way Hiland's perimeter players face-guarded, River's ballhandlers would have had more room to maneuver in the cramped backseat of a Corolla.

After River got out to an early 8-6 advantage in the first quarter, Hiland forced miscues on six of the next eight possessions. During that span, the Hawks went on a 17-0 run — getting field goals from six different players — and led for the rest of the afternoon. Megan Beachy, who posted a game-high 23 points, and Kennedy Schlabach, who added 15 including four triples, both canned critical treys in that stretch.

Coach Schlabach said he didn't immediately apply full-court pressure because he was worried Jensen Caretti, a skilled 6-foot-1 guard, would be able to complete long passes down the floor. However, once the Hawks turned it into a full-court game, the Pilots simply had no answer for Hiland's frenetic defense.

"That was my fault," he said. "I didn't want to trap them because I thought Caretti could just throw over the top of us. Then I said, 'Screw it,' we went full-court and good things started to happen."

"That's the most pressure we've seen all year," River coach Rick Isaly said. "It wears us down. We're six deep and it puts mental stress on you to get the ball down the floor."

Once the Hawks went up by 15 points early in the second frame, it appeared they might blow the game open well before intermission. However, River closed the half on an 11-5 run as the Hawks committed multiple fouls which allowed the Pilots to creep back in it. Caretti was a large part of the run, causing matchup problems inside and outside as she finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

"Caretti's the real deal," coach Schlabach said. "We've played big kids and we've played guards, but we've never played a big kid who's such a good guard."

"She's the best we've played," said Alex Troyer, who put up a team-high eight rebounds. "We knew we had to be on her."

Hiland missed three of its four shots in the third quarter to allow River to pull within nine (35-26). The Hawks then promptly put together another 15-4 streak that served as the knockout punch, with Hiland leading by 20 going into the fourth quarter. Beachy scored nine points during that stretch and served as the offensive catalyst despite not finding her outside stroke for much of the contest. For the afternoon, the 5-8 senior was only 2 for 11 from long range.

"Her 3 ball wasn't going in," coach Schlabach said, "so she went to her little floater and cut away from the basket. A year ago she wouldn't have done that. She stayed in it mentally and found ways to score for us."

After the third quarter, Isaly admitted his players felt like a truck had run over them. Both teams were playing their second game in two days, but Hiland's rotation is a dozen deep, while River's is half that.

"They throw 10 at you," he said. "We're conditioned, but when fresh kids come in two at a time, it wears on you mentally and physically."

Given the pedigree of the Hiland program, with 13 Final Four appearances since 1989, it's easy to assume that deep tournament runs in Berlin are nearly as certain in March as St. Patrick's Day. However, the Hawks fell in last year's district final to Bishop Rosecrans 47-38. That gave added meaning to Saturday's victory, given that Hiland only returned two significant contributors from a year ago.

"We didn't want that same feeling," said Brittany Miller, one of two returners from last year along with Beachy.

The 5-4 junior chipped in seven points and spent most of the afternoon guarding Caretti, who's nine inches taller, and kept River's star from taking over the afternoon.

Hiland now prepares for St. Thomas Aquinas, which was the Norwayne District champion after defeating Mapleton 39-20 in the district final. Coach Schlabach said the Knights will far and away be the most difficult challenge the Hawks have faced in the last two weeks.

"We felt all along St. Thomas Aquinas was the best team in the region," he said. "They're the real deal. They're a strong, physical, West Holmes-type team. It's going to be a war Thursday."