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Thriving under pressure:  Hiland tops West Holmes in battle of Holmes County

By CHAD CONANT
Daily Record Sports Writer

BERLIN -- Leave it to the reigning state champions to thrive in a tournament atmosphere.

In an emotionally charged Perry Reese Jr. Community Center on Saturday, Holmes County's two prep girls basketball programs met in a non-conference basketball game that had the look and feel of one played for a Final Four trip. Hiland, Div. IV's state champions, took the lead for good on a first-quarter 3-pointer from freshman McKenzie Miller and fought off Knight rallies the rest of the way for a 47-36 victory.

"That was the best part of the day," Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. "This was a knock down, drag 'em out with two great teams. That's a really good team. It was a perfect game for us to follow that Garaway game with to have played two really good teams in a row."

For West Holmes (6-3), the game likely came down to empty possessions at the offensive end.

The Knights started hot, taking a 10-4 lead in the first quarter when Lindsey Arnold fed Jasmine Troyer for a fastbreak layup. That was the last time West Holmes scored in the quarter. Hiland (7-0) started an 18-2 run at that point to take a lead it would eventually push to 22-12 in the second quarter. That run started on a pair of 3-pointers from junior Noelle Yoder, whose summer transfer from West Holmes to Hiland added an extra layer to an already charged rivalry. The Hawks took the lead for good on Miller's triple while the Knights were struggling at the offensive end.

After taking the 10-4 lead, West Holmes had four turnovers and no baskets for the rest of the first quarter. It was part of a trend that hurt the Knights all afternoon. West Holmes turned the ball over 18 times on the day and missed countless good scoring opportunities with layups that rolled off the rim or execution that turned good chances into empty possessions.

The biggest came after a Lindsey Arnold 3-pointer in the third quarter pulled the Knights within a point and was quickly followed by a Hiland turnover. With a chance to take the lead, West Holmes took a quick shot that missed and Hiland got the rebound.

"That was the difference in the game," Knights coach Lisa Patterson said. "Our turnovers and empty possessions where we should have capitalized and didn't hurt. When we got it that close, we needed to convert."

Neither team was particularly proficient on offense, something the opposition can credit its defense for.

The teams are both pretty good offensively. But Saturday, they combined to shoot 30-for-82 from the floor, with centers Sarah Hammond of West Holmes and Katelyn Stuckey of Hiland the only players with more than four attempts to make more than half of them. Point guards Katy Baker of West Holmes and Hilary Weaver of Hiland, marquee players on their team's roster, scored just two points each.

That meant defense had to create offense and there might not be a better team in this section of the state better at that than Hiland. The Hawks scored 18 points off turnovers and continually made things a little difficult as things went on for the Knights. In clutch situations, Hiland got the stops it needed to build the lead more.

"Our defense really got us going today," Schlabach said. "We get a lot of our offense off defense and that's really where we need to score right now. We're not quite in sync offensively and that's OK for this time of year. Defense and rebounding have to be there and they were for us today."

For West Holmes, the effort was there to win. The execution in key moments was just a little bit off. That's something to work on the rest of the season, and in doing so, will go a long way towards defending an Ohio Cardinal Conference title it won without losing a conference game a year ago.

"We want to come out of the game today learning something about ourselves and I think we did that," Patterson said. "We have a lot from this game we can take forward."

Both sides saw a regular season game at the Reese Center that was filled nearly to the rafters with patrons on a Saturday afternoon. The atmosphere between the teams may have come in part because of the rivalry and in part because of the offseason circumstances. But, the stands were full because of the former. People came to see a basketball game and got their money's worth.

"Any time Hiland and West Holmes play, you're going to get an atmosphere like this," Patterson said. "You had little old Holmes County in girls basketball and we filled a gym today for a good reason."

Karli Mast led Hiland with 13 points, while Yoder finished with a dozen and Stuckey with 10. For West Holmes, Arnold and Hammond both scored 11.

 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
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