In the end, thanks to a spark from Karli Mast and defense and rebounding from everyone, the Hawks had a golden result.

Mast got the offense sparked with a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and Hiland allowed no second-chance points the entire game. Those efforts combined to allow the Hawks to overcome a 13-4 first-quarter deficit and take a lead they would never surrender by the midway point of the second quarter in a 53-36 Div. IV district championship win over eighth-ranked Shadyside at Indian Valley High School.

The Hawks will meet the winner of Lowellville and McDonald at 6:15 p.m. Thursday in a regional semifinal at Massillon Perry High School.

"It felt a little bit like pulling teeth out there in the first quarter," Hawks coach Dave Schlabach said. "We got good shots. We just couldn't get anything to fall. The worst thing about it was we'd get a good shot, miss it and get the rebound and throw up four more bricks. Luckily for us, Karli figured out a way to hit some big shots for us and got us going."

Those shots came on consecutive possessions in the second quarter. After a pair of free throws from Katelyn Stuckey to open the quarter, Karli Mast hit her two 3s to pull the Hawks (23-1) within 15-12. Mykeila Mast then hit a short jumper and a pair of free throws, the latter with 3:55 left in the first half to give Hiland its first lead at 16-15.

Karli Mast, who finished with a game-high 15 points that included a dagger at the end of the third quarter, scored four more points as the Hawks pushed the lead to 20-16. The offense still wasn't crisp. But once the Hawks got ahead of Shadyside (20-4) there was no looking back.

"We really feed off Karli's energy," Schlabach said. "She has a tendency to make big shots when we really need her. We have some other guards who are very capable, too. We definitely needed her tonight."

As Hiland continued with the lead and the second half wore on, the same thing that seems to happen when the Hawks get their claws into an opponent arose again.

The Tigers were a step slower and their shots were short. As that happened, Hiland put the game away in the final 1:16 of the third quarter. Stuckey scored off a pass from Eastern District Player of the Year Hilary Weaver and Weaver hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Hawks a 32-26 lead. Hiland finished the third on a long ball from the right corner from Karli Mast and hit the gas.

Hiland took a 40-27 lead early in the fourth and ran away from Shadyside.

"Their defensive pressure is unbelievable," Shadyside coach Tina Yates said. "I think it really took a toll on us in the second half. Our passes were weaker and our shots just weren't falling in the second half like they were in the first."

Hiland got out of the district again on a night that was decidedly not its style. Shots didn't fall on a night where the defending state champions looked out of sync much of the way. But, they won by doing the two things basketball players can control. Defense and rebounding got a good offensive team to a round of the tournament that has seemed a set line on the Hiland schedule.

A year ago, the Hawks beat East Canton and Bedford Chanel in the Massillon Regional to advance to the Final Four and have been a regional regular this decade.

"We never take this for granted," Schlabach said. "Every minute on the floor for these kids is extremely valuable. We're in the regional again and that's great for us."