MARIETTA — Now, the Hiland girls basketball team can start to focus on a game against what coach Dave Schlabach calls "the best team in Ohio."
The Div. III East Regional championship game is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m., with Hiland meeting Columbus Africentric at Marietta College for the right to move on to state.
But, for most of their regional semifinal Wednesday, the Hawks had their hands full, and then some, before closing with a 25-12 run to get past Proctorville Fairland 50-44.
Fairland (23-3) came into the contest riding a 16-game winning streak, and the Dragons stunned Hiland with an 8-0 blast right out of the gate. The Hawks would take their first lead midway through the second quarter at 22-21, but Fairland answered and took a 30-25 halftime lead on a 3-pointer then another basket from guard Emily Chapman.
The Dragons came out in the third quarter and scored first to go up 32-25, and that's when Hiland (23-4), which won for the 13th consecutive time itself, responded.
A bucket from Morgan McMillen tied the game at 32-all, and a 3 from Kennedy Schlabach gave the Hawks a 37-34 advantage, one they would keep the rest of the night. Schlabach also buried a 3 just before the third-quarter buzzer to put her team up 42-37 heading into the final eight minutes.
Fairland cut Hiland's lead to 44-41 with 2:48 to play, but that's where the score stood until less than 30 seconds remained. The Dragons missed a potential game-tying 3, Schlabach rebounded and was fouled, and she sank two free throws. McMillen then hit 4 of 4 at the foul line in the closing seconds to seal the win, ending her night with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds. Schlabach added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Zoe Miller grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Dragons were led by Chapman's 16 points — the lone Fairland scorer in double figures, although two others had nine points. Kelsey Warnock yanked down 11 rebounds.
"That was a great team with a lot of great scorers," Schlabach said afterwards of the Dragons. "All of our kids made big shots at big times."
In Wednesday's opener, Africentric pasted Minford (24-2) 72-45. The Nubians will bring a record of 24-3 into the regional final.
