Times-Reporter correspondent
SUGARCREEK — Shot for shot, the Hiland at Garaway girls high school basketball matchup at the Pirate Gymnasium turned out to be exactly as everyone would have expected.
Back and forth and side to side the Route 39 rivalry ended with the Hawks winning 65-58 in a game much closer than the seven-point ending.
“Balance,” Hiland head coach Dave Schlabach said of his team’s identity. “I think we may be a little tougher than maybe I thought. I was impressed with Garaway. I thought they were the aggressors. When was the last time a team took us out of our press and pressed us harder.”
The Hawks got 25 points from Megan Beachy while Brittany Miller tossed in 11 and Angela Troyer had 12 including 10 in the first half.
“For the first time in her career Megan Beachy became the go-to player in a big game,” Schlabach said. “She did a great job.”
Garaway got a solid game from junior Kendra Miller with her 16 points and eight rebounds while Izzy Meese added 19 points. Katelyn Miller and Courtney Werker both chipped in seven and nine, respectively. The Pirates were killed at the free-throw line as Hiland hit its first 12 and finished 26-of-32.
“Letting them go 26-for-32 for the game will beat us any time,” Garaway head coach Jim Monigold said. “I thought we took away their 3s pretty well and defended them well but you can’t let them get to the foul line and get their points like that.”
Garaway led 17-16 after one quarter as Kendra Miller had seven points while Angela Troyer and Beachy had five each.
The Hawks took a 33-27 lead into halftime on a Brittany Miller triple with 35.5 ticks left as Beachy heated up with seven points and Troyer added five more. Kendra Miller continued to keep the Pirates in the game with nine more second-quarter points.
In the third frame, Hiland was up by as much as 40-31 on a Kennedy Schlabach layup, but Garaway fought back with a 13-1 run that included seven Werker points and a pair of Meese triples. The Pirates led 47-44 heading into the final eight minutes.
The game finally found itself tied at 49 on a Beachy bucket and from there Hiland would go up 51-49 on a Beachy jumper and never trail or tie again. The Hawks finished the game going 13 of 18 in the fourth quarter.
“We hit some free throws and took care of the ball late,” Schlabach said. “We’ve had five games and this was our first road game so for our young kids it was a nice win and a nice atmosphere.”
For Monigold and his young team, it was a tough loss to swallow.
“Crud, crud is the word,” Monigold said. “It was one of those games that could have gone either way. This was much needed. We needed a challenge and coming into this game, we knew what was ahead of us. It was good to see the younger kids step up the way we hoped they would.”
Schlabach said he was impressed with the young Pirates, who have just one senior in Katelyn Miller.
“They only have one senior so they’re going to get better as the year goes on,” Schlabach said. Monigold added that the return game in Berlin will be interesting later in the year.
“It’s never going to get any easier but hopefully we can return the favor,” he said.
