Daily Record Sports Writer
MILLERSBURG — The next time fans may get a chance to see both the Hiland and West Holmes girls basketball teams in the same building could be at The Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center at the state finals in March, where tickets will be plentiful.
The Knights and Hawks renewed their cross-county rivalry for the 31st time Saturday night in front of a near-capacity crowd in The Dungeon at West Holmes High School. And while this year's edition was one of the lowest-scoring in the series, the game was still a classic, grind-it-out affair.
West Holmes' Hannah Clark scored a game-high 14 points — 12 coming in the second half — and Kacie Leppla added 10 off the bench as the Knights outlasted the Hawks 39-31.
The Battle of Holmes County is annually one of the greatest rivalries Ohio high school sports has to offer, complete with a carnival-like atmosphere that's as intense as it is entertaining. The archrivals have combined to make 22 Final Four appearances and win a combined eight state championships.
So it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, then, that Saturday's outcome wasn't decided until the closing minutes.
"It's always a grind, always a fight in this game from start to finish and tonight's was no different," West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson said, whose team improved to 4-1 on the season."This game is for the pride of the county, a game in which everyone gets super-excited for and a game both teams want to win very badly."
Although Hiland (3-2) stayed within striking distance the entire night, the Hawks led just once in the game, and that came on its second possession.
Kennedy Schlabach's 3-pointer gave the Hawks a 3-0 advantage, but it was short-lived as West Holmes took a 7-3 lead on a pair of Leppla 3-pointers. The Knights led after one period 9-4.
West Holmes extended its lead to 15-8 midway through the second stanza on a Leppla 2-point bucket with 3:20 left in the opening half.
Hiland, though, battled back as Kennedy Schlabach drilled a 3-pointer with 1:40 left to trim the deficit to 15-11, then pulled within a bucket on a steal and layin by Brittany Miller to trail 15-13 at the break. The Hawks forced the Knights into 13 first-half turnovers, 10 coming in the second quarter.
"We didn't make very many shots, but we were still very much in the game at the half because our defense was able to create some turnovers," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "We held (Clark) to just two points in the half, but we struggled to score points ourselves. Coming in, I thought if we could get to 45 points, that might get us a win, but obviously that didn't happen."
Hiland, however, tied the game at 15-15 with 6:14 left in the third on a Miller bucket, then again at 17 on a Tiffany Weaver layup a possession later.
After the Hiland flurry, though, Clark led the Knights on a 12-3 run to close the period, as the Northern Kentucky-signee scored 10 points to give the Knights a 29-20 lead heading to the final period.
"We knew (Hiland's) pressure was going to be a problem, but we were able to get Hannah from having to handle the ball out top on every possession, to getting her in positions to score and that was a big difference," Patterson said.
West Holmes built its biggest lead of the night early in the fourth, as Samantha Hall's basket gave the Knights a 30-20 advantage.
Hiland again rallied, though, trimming the Knights' advantage to 35-31 with 1:40 remaining on a Miller layup, but the Hawks were unable to get over the hump in the closing minute.
"We had numerous opportunities throughout the game, and especially in the final run we made, but we couldn't convert when we had to," Schlabach said. "We are still not a tough enough team, we are very soft with the ball, and that's going to have to improve if we are going to be the type of team we want to be.
"I thought Brittany played a great game, she was relentless all night, but we need someone else to be able to score besides her and Kennedy in a game like this and we don't have that yet. We got zero points from our bench, too. It's disappointing to lose tonight, but bottom-line is we have to be a tougher team."
West Holmes finished the night 12 of 32 from the floor and 2 for 12 from beyond the arc, while converting just 13 of 27 free throws. Brittany Macaulay led the Knights with seven rebounds. Miller led the Hawks with 13 points while Schlabach chipped in with 10. Only four Hawks scored on the night.
Hiland capped its night 10 of 46 shooting, while making 3 of 18 3-point attempts.
