BERLIN — As the Hiland girls basketball team breaks in four new starters, coach Dave Schlabach knows that his squad, which isn't blessed with much size, will get tested early on.

Wednesday's opener, however, wasn't one of those nights.

The Hawks opened their season Wednesday at the Perry Reese Jr. Center against perennial Inter-Valley Conference doormat Tuscarawas Central Catholic and thumped the Saints 55-24. Despite the lopsided final ledger, it was the closest game TCC had played against Hiland since 2011. In the previous six meetings, the Hawks routinely took the Saints to the woodshed, winning by an average margin of 66 points.

The closer margin — albeit "closer" is relative — isn't all that surprising given that the Hawks are replacing Regina Hochstetler, the reigning Div. IV District Player of the Year and two-time All-Ohioan, as well as three other productive starters from last year's squad, which went 22-4 and fell to Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans in the district final. Wednesday's date with TCC was essentially a walkthrough before the Hawks (1-0) face more challenging tests the next two weeks against Malvern, West Holmes and Garaway.

"We won't know for sure what team we have until we get tested," Schlabach said. "It'll be 10 games until we figure it out."

To its credit, TCC (0-1) did manage to keep the contest tied at 4-4 midway through the first quarter as Hiland started 2 for 8 from the field. From there, though, the Hawks scored the final 14 points in the opening stanza, getting three field goals from Megan Beachy and two more from freshman Kennedy Schlabach. The Saints closed the frame by committing six turnovers and the second quarter wasn't much better as they went 1 for 8 from the field with four miscues. When all was said and done, after the early tie the Hawks closed the half on a 28-4 roll.

"After three and a half minutes, we made our first substitution and then things got away," TCC coach Mike Sweet said. "We weren't ready to play and they jumped on us. They're Hiland — that's what they do."

The most encouraging sign for Schlabach was the offensive balance his squad demonstrated. Kennedy Schlabach and Brittany Miller shared the team lead with eight points, but the Hawks had 11 players score and six who tallied five points or more. Without a player like Hochstetler who can be relied on to pour in 20 points per night, that will be critical.

"Maybe we'll find that go-to kid," Coach Schlabach said, "but for now we've got more balance."

After finishing as the state runner-up in 2012 and 2013 and another banner campaign last year, the Hawks certainly enter this season with more unknowns. They only have one player on the roster taller than 5-9 and their main post player, Rachel Horn, is 5-8. Beachy, the lone returning starter, is routinely the tallest player on the floor at 5-9 and she's a guard. Moreover, while there are five seniors on the roster, only two of them, Beachy and Alex Troyer, played meaningful minutes last season. Schlabach said there's not a blueprint this year — the Hawks will make adjustments as they go along.

"We've had those years where you go into a game and think, 'We'll figure it out during the game,'" Schlabach said. "That's our job as coaches.

"We've got five seniors," he added, "but we don't have a lot of experience. Only one of them averaged 1.5 points per game last year."

Schlabach, however, made one thing abundantly clear — the expectations remain the same. The goal is to win the state championship in Columbus.

"We expect our kids to figure it out," he said. "That can't ever change — that's too easy.

"I'm excited for the challenge," Schlabach added. "We'll be a team that has to be scrappy in the halfcourt. The challenge in high school basketball is to take the pieces you've been given and figure it out."

Regardless of the personnel, Schlabach, who has 506 wins in 23 seasons to go along with four state titles, always manages to put the puzzle together. It may take some time, though, for him to figure out all the parts.