Daily Record Staff Writer
BERLIN — Morgan McMillen's return to action for Hiland from ACL surgery in the fall, along with the continued development of coach Dave Schlabach's Kiddy Corps, which features major minutes for a quartet of freshmen, and the sharpshooting of the Hawks from long range make Hiland an opponent nobody wants to mess with.
Just ask Division I powerhouse Magnificat, which left the Perry Reese Community Center Monday night shaking its head after getting steamrolled by the Hawks 71-34.
McMillen started the game swishing a triple try from the top of the key, then followed with a traditional three-point play.
An alley oop from Kennedy Schlabach to Tiffany Weaver on the low post had Hiland up 8-0 a couple minutes into the game and the onslaught was on. Schlabach swished the first of her seven 3-pointers and freshman Morgan Yoder scored on a fast break off one of the many misses by the Blue Streaks to finish off the first quarter with Hiland ahead 16-5.
Then the freshmen got in on the act.
Zoe Miller scored on a pair of free throws and added another bucket on the low post. Junior Tiffany Weaver scored down low, Yoder added another driving layup, and frosh Kelsey Swihart stuck back a miss for a 26-9 lead.
"They just don't feel like freshmen to me anymore," Schlabach said.
Schlabach swished two more triples and the Hawks led 36-13 at the break. The senior knocked down seven of nine tries from beyond the arc to lead the Hiland offensive with 21 points.
"Kennedy got new shoes, so she said it was the new shoes," Coach Schlabach said with a smile. "That is a direct result of Morgan (McMillen) being back, delivering passes, keeping herself out of harm's way and making some plays.
"Morgan's presence … when you have another shooter on the floor, it just spaces everything out," the coach continued. "Post players are getting more touches, Ken's getting the best looks she's gotten all season, because she's no longer the main focus out there."
The coach commended the efficient effort of Schlabach.
"It's not like she needed to shoot 15 to get them, either," he said. "She hit shots. That was fun to see."
The Hiland coach says he appreciated an opportunity to play a tough team like Magnificat, and then get to follow it up with another quality opponent in new Inter-Valley Conference member Tusky Valley in the final week of the season.
"This was a good, physical game for us," Schlabach said. "For us to have two really good games the last week of the season is not normal. We have this game and then Tusky Valley Saturday. I'm glad we're getting healthy and we've got two good games here at the end of the year.
"We're starting to get healthy, and I thought everybody looked to make plays," the coach continued. "Tonight's game had very balanced scoring, the kids played very unselfishly, sharing the basketball."
McMillen finished with 11 points and Weaver added nine points and ripped down seven rebounds.
As a team, Hiland smoked the nets for 14 3-pointers out of 25 attempts. McMillen, Brynn Mullet and Kimberly Miller each added two triples.
Magnificat, on the other hand, managed only one of 24 tries from beyond the arc. The Blue Streaks managed 10 of 27 from inside the arc, and were a perfect 11 of 11 from the foul line.
The win improved Hiland's record to 16-4 on the season.
