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RECAP:
Just a week ago the Chippewa Chipps and the Hiland Lady Hawks were battle-tested in the Reese Center at Classic in the Country XIII. Chippewa lost both their games against Kettering Alter and Tecumseh. Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks won one and lost won. Hiland beat Dayton Carroll on day one and then on day three the Lady Hawks fell to GlenOak.
On Jan. 25 in Berlin it was time for the two teams to take on each other. And for the third time in 9 days, Chippewa lost a game in the Reese Center.
The Lady Hawks had three players in double figures, but more importantly used a massive effort on the boards to hand Chippewa its third loss of the season, all at the Reese Center, 57-50.
Hiland out-rebounded the much taller Chipps 41-23. Even more impressively, the Lady Hawks had 20 offensive rebounds, almost equally Chippewa’s entire output.
Sophomore Kennedy Schlabach led all scorers with 18 points for the Lady Hawks. Morgan McMillen played a strong game finishing with 14 and junior Angela Troyer pitched in with 11 for Hiland.
The Chipps got 16 points from their big, Ashley Richardson who caused all kinds of interior issues for Hiland when she caught the ball low in the post. Carly Koncz also reached double-digit for Chippewa scoring 10 points.
The Lady Hawks got off to a quick start with Morgan McMillen’s triple from the corner and Melissa Hostetler’s put-back that gave Hiland a quick 5-0 lead.
Chippewa then went to their big, 6’1” senior Richardson. She scored three baskets on the inside and then the active guard Carly Koncz nailed a 3-pointer to give Chippewa a 9-7 lead with 1:04 left in the first. Chippewa would lead after one by the same score.
Hiland fell behind 11-7 on a Katie Richardson basket on Chippewa’s first possession of the second quarter. That would be Chippewa’s last lead of the night.
A 12-0 run from the Lady Hawks surged them ahead 19-11 with just over two minutes to play in the second quarter. Kennedy Schlabach nailed two treys, Sara Keim hit another (video) and Melissa Hosteler did the dirty work under the glass, getting a basket and a free-throw during the Hiland surge.
Taylor Richards and Jaime Sammons added buckets for the Chipps late in the second period, but the damage had been done by the Lady Hawks as Hiland led 24-15 at the break.
Chippewa mustered just six points in the second quarter. In fact, the Lady Hawks held down the Chippewa offense in the first half allowing only single digits points in the first and second quarters.
Like all good teams do, Chippewa then made a run in the third quarter. Koncz fired home her second triple of the night and Jaime Sammons connected on two treys. Then with 1:45 left in the third quarter Richards got a floater to go that cut the Hiland lead to just one, 33-32. The Chipps made five 3-pointers in the quarter, handing Hiland a dose of their own medicine.
Hiland would get the hustle play they needed. Troyer got fouled going to the basket, made the first free-throw and then missed the second. No problem, the energetic Melissa Hostetler came to the rescue with the offensive board, got the ball reversed where it found the hands of Kennedy Schlabach. Schlabach tripled for the third time in the game, this time a dagger to the side of Chippewa, to give Hiland a 37-32 lead.
Two Richardson free-throws would get Chippewa as close as 39-37 in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as the Chipps would come.
Freshman Tiffany Weaver (video) got a shot in the paint to fall and Jessica Troyer got a big-time basket at a crucial time to push the Hiland lead back to 43-37.
Schlabach’s last 3-pointer of the game, her fourth, came with 3:23 left in the fourth and gave the Lady Hawks a more comfortable 48-40 lead.
Chippewa then decided to foul the best free-throw shooter in the area, Schlabach, who connected on four freebies down the stretch. Schlabach is 51-for-56 on the season for 91 percent. Not who you want to foul.
BENCH BYTES“The rebounding effort in the first half might have been the best ever in my 25 years. It was just strictly effort. We don’t have size, but we were quicker than them, and that showed at times tonight.”
— Hiland head coach Dave Schlabach on a ferocious glass-cleaning effort that saw the Lady Hawks overpower the much taller Chipps on the boards 41-23
“I think the big difference was the first half, the rebounding and the physicality. Their first half was really impressive. Really impressive.”
— Chippewa head coach Denny Schrock on the reason his team fell to Hiland 57-50
“My guess is the majority of our threes came from an offensive rebound, kicked back out.”
—Dave Schlabach
“I knew we would come back. It wasn’t a matter of not believing we would come back. We challenged our girls at halftime.”
—Denny Schrock on his team digging itself a huge hole in the second quarter
“That was the biggest play of the game.”
—Dave Schlabach on Angela Troyer’s steal and ensuing and-one that gave the Lady Hawks a seven-point advantage mid-way through the fourth quarter
“I thought our bench gave us even better minutes than I could have ever imagined.”
—Dave Schlabach
“We wanted the clock to run, and we wanted to play physical. We felt that in the post, we would foul (Ashley Richardson), because we felt that in the post, if she gets it, it’s over. We would rather foul or get a steal on the pass than let her get the ball on the block.”
—Dave Schlabach on trying to defend one of the state’s best bigs
“The biggest thing we got out of this game was the play of Lexi (Karaovic, who scored nine points on three triples). It was her breakout game, and we come in here, and want to see what is going to make us a better tournament team. Bingo, there it is.”
—Denny Schrock
“You guys haven’t seen anything yet. People have no idea how good Morgan is.”
—Dave Schlabach on Hiland sophomore Morgan McMillen, who has yet to practice one time this season, but has managed to put up stat lines of 7-points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists against Ridgewood and then 14 points, 9 rebounds and four dimes against Chippewa
“The kids had no idea what I was talking about.”
—Dave Schlabach on employing a zone defense down the stretch to combat Chippewa. A notorious glutton for man-to-man defense, Schlabach credited assistant coach Cousy Borter for offering up the suggestion that helped Hiland stave off the Chipps
“We wanted to be challenged, and we were, and that is the thing that is going to make us better. Dave and I talked going into this game, and we both said it was going to be a win-win situation. It has been, but obviously we would have preferred to win the game. We had the same scenario last year, and we both got to Columbus, so let’s hope that stays the same.”
—Denny Schrock
“We’re missing our best defender, and probably the smartest kid on the floor in Brittany (Miller). But it gives her at least a week to rest her knees, so it might be the best thing that ever happened to her.”
—Dave Schlabach
“That was crucial. We have to get the ball into her, and believe me, that has been addressed.”
—Denny Schrock on Chippewa going to his superstar center Ashley Richardson a ton early, then they stopped finding her on the block until late in the game
Melissa Hostetler came up with two huge offensive rebounds against Chippewa that led to Keim’s big three in the second quarter that gave Hiland back the lead 13-11 and again on Schlabach’s 3-pointer that gave Hiland a 48-40 lead in the fourth. She finished with five points and nine rebounds. Keim finished with three points, Weaver had five and Jessica Troyer finished with a pair.
Lexi Karaovic helped out the Chipps with nine points off the bench. Sammons finished with six and Taylor Ricahrds had seven.
W-LChippewa – 14-3 overall – 10-0 in the WCAL
Hiland – 15-3 overall – 12-0 in the IVC
