Pretty much everyone in the Perry Reese Community Center was waiting for the Hiland Lady Hawks to get rolling and put it to visiting Harrison Central in their Div. III East sectional opener on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

After all, the 22-1 Lady Hawks were the No. 1 seed and are ranked near the top of the OHSAA Div. III poll while the Huskies were the tournament’s lowest seed at No. 17. It took Hiland a quarter to get rolling, but in the end the Lady Hawks earned an 86-17 win, and all was right with the world for Dave Schlabach’s crew.

Harrison Central actually was able to hang around through one quarter, where it trailed Hiland 20-7, but thereafter Hiland put the peddle to the metal and roared to victory by outscoring HC 66-10 over the final-three quarters.

Junior point guard Morgan Yoder fashioned a triple-double the hard way, scoring 16 points, dishing out 10 assists and collecting 10 steals, just one steal shy of Morgan McMillan’s school record.

Zoe Miller also posted a double-double, posting 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Brynn Mullet also had a terrific game, scoring 20 points including four treys and adding eight assists. Kyli Horn also nailed four 3-pointers for all 12 of her points while Aila Miller had a strong game off the bench with eight points and seven rebounds.

Other key contributions for Hiland came from Kendra Shetler, who scored five points and snared seven rebounds; Shelby Miller, who scored six points to go with five boards; and Kelsey Swihart, who added five points. Hiland forced the Huskies into 35 turnovers compared to just seven of their own, and the Lady Hawks ruled the glass 52-19.

Lady Hawks win 26th-straight sectional crown

Three Dog Night sang “one is the loneliest number” back in the 1970s, but four can be a pretty lonely number too when it signifies the number of points allowed in a varsity high school basketball game.

While Ridgewood held the mighty Lady Hawks to 62 points in their sectional final contest on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Hiland High School, Hiland held the Generals to a paltry four points in the 62-4 victory.

The four points tied the record for fewest points in a game, which was set in the 2009-10 season in a tournament game versus Toronto.

Hiland was held to 5-2 in a turnover-marred first few minutes of the game but then got rolling, and defensively the Lady Hawks were at their finest, creating all kinds of havoc in the half-court set they employed for the majority of the game.

After a sluggish first quarter, Hiland finally got it going offensively near the end of the beginning period and bolted to a 17-2 lead. By the half the Lady Hawks held a commanding 35-4 lead, and that also would be the final time the Generals would put the ball through the hoop.

Hiland would go on to whitewash Ridgewood over the final-two quarters while head coach Dave Schlabach ran people in and out of the game.

Zoe Miller led the way with 13 points while Yoder added 10 points and six assists and Aila Miller added 10 points. Shetler scored eight, Mullet tacked on seven, and Swihart and Horn each added five in the victory that gave Hiland its 26th-consecutive sectional crown.