Daily Record Sports Writer
MASSILLON — Dave Schlabach's worst nightmare came to fruition.
Earlier in the week, the veteran Hiland girls basketball coach thought the only thing that could derail the Hawks' bid for a 15th Final Four appearance was his team suffering through an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance against Lake Ridge Academy.
On Thursday night, the Hawks went ice-cold and it cost them their season.
Hiland converted just 14 of 56 shots (25 percent), including a 1 of 25 performance beyond the arc in dropping a 41-40 heartbreaker to the Royals in a Div. IV Massillon Regional semifinal at Perry High School.
Michaela Harrison and Maria Janasko led the Royals (18-8) with 12 points apiece, with Sydney Mayberry adding 11. Morgan McMillen was the only player to reach double figures on Thursday for Hiland with 13, as the Hawks saw their campaign come to a close at 23-4.
"I have to commend our girls, their effort, preparation, and commitment to what we wanted to do tonight was there the entire game, but we just couldn't make a shot," Schlabach said. "Shooting the ball poorly is always a worst-case scenario, but you really can't foresee a night like this coming. I really thought this group had a very good chance of winning it all this year. We had all the pieces in place, and we got healthy down the stretch.
"We had our chances during the game to stretch our leads, a lot of them, but we couldn't make the big shot or get a key rebound to do that. In the end, we have to give Lake Ridge credit. They came up with the big plays and made the big shots when it counted. There's not much else to say."
As poorly as Hiland shot the ball, the Hawks still had a chance to win it at the end.
The Hawks led for most of the contest, enjoying a 34-28 advantage entering the final period, until LRA took its first lead of the night at 36-34 with 4:43 remaining on a Janasko stickback.
Following Angela Troyer's basket that knotted the game at 36-36 a possession later, the Royals went on a 5-0 run to lead 41-36, capped by Harrison's jumper from the baseline with 3:41.
Before Troyer's bucket, the Hawks misfired on 11 straight attempts to start the quarter.
"The thing that was so frustrating was the fact we were taking our shots in the flow of the game, we weren't forcing them even though we were struggling to knock something down," Schlabach said. "Their length inside bothered us a little, but we still had open looks."
With 1:28 left, Kennedy Schlabach drilled the Hawks' first 3-pointer of the night from the left wing to trim the Royals' lead to 41-39.
Following a pair of LRA turnovers, sandwiched around another Hiland missed 3, McMillen was fouled going to the basket with 24.7 ticks left.
The Hiland sophomore missed the first, but converted the second free toss and the Royals' lead was 41-40.
On the inbounds, the Hawks fouled Harrison, who subsequently missed the front end of the 1-and-1. The Hawks grabbed the carom, and ultimately played for the final shot, but McMillen's short-range attempt spun off the rim and fell out at the buzzer.
Hiland led Thursday's contest 12-3 after the opening quarter, but a 9-2 Royals run cut the margin to 20-18 at the half. LRA outscored the Hawks 13-6 in the final period.
"Even though we trailed early, I thought we had a chance to be in it at the end if we could get the lead cut to four or less by halftime," Lake Ridge coach Lisa Medvetz said. "Then when we got up five late in the game, we got a little antsy and turned the ball over which made for some anxious moments at the end. Our game plan was to try and take Hiland's 3-point shots away, and make them drive to the basket. I know they didn't shoot the ball well, but that's the chance you have to take when playing them.
"Fortunately, we did a fairly good job of doing that, and we made a couple of big shots ourselves in the fourth quarter."
LRA outrebounded Hiland 35-31 with Janasko hauling in a game-high 13, while McMillen led the Hawks with five.
Hiland turned the ball over just six times on the night, and canned 11 of 12 free throws.
The Royals shot 40 percent from the floor (16 of 40), and 4 of 16 from behind the line.
Lake Ridge Academy advances to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. regional final against Cornerstone Christian, a 46-34 winner over Jackson-Milton in Thursday's second game.
