NEW PHILADELPHIA — As if taking on top-seeded Hiland for the third time this season wasn’t hard enough, the Tusky Valley Trojans were tasked to do so without their starting post player.

And while Hiland missed its first 10 tries from beyond the arc in one of its worst shooting performances of the season, the Hawks were able to weather a gallant effort by the Trojans to escape New Philadelphia with a 54-37 triumph to claim the Division III East District championship.

The win advances the 25-1 Hawks to the Logan Regional on Wednesday against Cardington-Lincoln. The Trojans bow out at 20-6.

Hiland coach Dave Schlabach looked at the game as a wake-up call and something his girls can build on.

“It had to enter their minds today that the season could be over,” he said. “You have to play with that edge, and we haven’t even been in a game. If I had to write a script, this was probably the perfect thing we needed.”

Although the coach might edit out some of the missed shots.

Hiland did connect on 5 of 22 shots from beyond the arc, all five makes coming in the second half as Hiland turned a tug-of-war into another double-digit win.

“I think we were freaking out a little bit and gambling,” Schlabach said. “Then, all of a sudden, next thing you know, people are out of position. It was not a stellar half. But they do that. Even without his best post player. The last time we played them, they were right there going into the half.

“They are very well coached and did a great job,” he added. “They took stuff away. It all comes down to you’ve got to hit shots.”

While Hiland couldn’t “throw the ball in the ocean” as their coach said, the Hawks still managed to do just enough to take a 19-18 lead at intermission, scoring the final four points of the first half to do so, after an Ashley Merrick layup gave Tusky Valley an 18-15 advantage. Merrick had 11 points at the break to lead all scorers in the first half.

“I felt like we left too many points out there in the first half, where we had opportunities,” Tusky Valley coach Matt Ward said. “We just didn’t quite finish them off. Against a team like Hiland, you just can’t just play so-so when it comes to finishing. You have to be on your ‘A’ game. I thought our kids did everything we wanted them to do, it just, not finishing in the first half hurt a little bit.

“Hiland has shown in the past their ability to up their pressure in the third quarter. Teams get a little mentally fatigued against them. Down one in our rotation didn’t help, but I thought (Ashley) Merrick did a great job stepping up into the starting role and doing what we needed her to do.”

The Hawks were able to make some adjustments defensively, forcing the Trojans into some turnovers that enabled Hiland to score in transition.

“I didn’t think we did some of the little things. Usually, we offensive rebound like crazy, and we give that second effort,” Schlabach said. “We needed to clean that up, and we needed to turn them over, and we did a couple things different that kind of got us going.”

In the first half, Tusky Valley did a good job of matriculating the Hiland pressure.

“They did a good job passing over the top,” Schlabach said. “But in the second half, we laid off, pressured, made them put it on the floor, and then we got it. That made a difference.”

As did making a few shots.

Morgan Yoder stroked back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third quarter, but Arora Levengood answered with a pair of scores for the Trojans to keep things close.

Zoe Miller scored off a stick back and Brynn Mullet followed with a steal and layup to extend Hiland’s lead to nine. Kyli Horn hit a 3-pointer and Mullet swished another off a turnover, and the Hawks were ready to take flight. Kelsey Swihart scored to beat the buzzer, giving HIland a 15-point, 41-26 lead heading into the final frame.

Schlabach noted that his depth continued to pay huge dividends down the stretch.

“I thought Kelsey (Swihart) had one of the better games she’s ever played, and Kyli Horn had a huge week,” Schlabach said. “Shelby and Aila made a couple plays. Our six through nine really made the difference.”

Swihart was one of three Hawks in double figures with 10 points, three offensive rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Zoe Miller led the way offensively for Hiland with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Mullet added 12 points, while Horn just missed double figures with eight, and Yoder finished with six.

Merrick was the lone Trojan in double figures, finishing with 13. Abbey Dillon scored eight and Levengood finished with six. Junior post Ali Shane had to watch the game on crutches, suffering a sprained ankle in the comeback win Wednesday over Union Local.

“They take away clean looks because they’re so good defensively,” Ward said. “I thought we did a great job of attacking their pressure. We just didn’t finish as much as we needed to when we got there. We had some success. We just didn’t finish.”