BERLIN -- Basketball at Hiland has always been a community affair.

Much of the village finds a way to get to the Perry Reese Center, the gleaming testament to the coach that meant so much to the people of East Holmes, to support both the girls and boys teams.

Throughout that part of Holmes County, there aren't many driveways, garages or barns that don't have a basketball hoop attached.  The attachment to the game itself is just as strong.

Youngsters in the Hiland school district don't grow up wanting to be the next LeBron James or the next Diana Taurasi, that can wait.  They want to be the next Dylan Kaufman or the next Hilary Weaver.

Kaufman and Weaver are standout members of this year's Hawk teams.  The boys, featuring Kaufman, labeled the best freshman in Ohio a year ago, are coming off a 26-1 season that ended at regionals.  Weaver is the All-Ohio point guard for the Hiland girls, who lost their second game last year in the state finals.

Both teams are expected to be strong again.  But then, they're always expected to be, especially by the community.

As a 1995 Hiland graduate, boys coach Mark Schlabach gets that.  He played for Reese, made his own mark as a successful head coach at Loudonville, then came back five years ago.

"There's always high expectations, and as coaches, we understand that," he said.  "It's great to have those expectations, but sometimes there's a lot of pressure."

Fortunately, Schlabach's used to it.  The success of the girls program has been phenomenal, particularly over the past 20 seasons, setting a standard even the Hiland boys are forced to live with, and live up to.

It's nothing new for Schlabach, though -- the man responsible for building the girls program happens to be his older brother Dave.

The Schlabachs are 10 years apart.  Dave, 42, took over the girls program in 1991.  In the past 12 seasons, his teams have won fewer than 20 games just once and, under Schlabach, the Hawks have made 10 trips to the state Final Four, winning four state championships.

Mark, 32, has taken three teams to Columbus, two of them were at Loudonville.

Nobody knows as well as Dave how difficult it is to get to Columbus with the boys.

You have 50 to 100 girls schools who really work at it," Dave said.  "In the boys, there's about 400.  But I think he's getting his staff developed, you can see it developing like ours did."

Setting the bar high

During his playing days, even as far back as high school, Dave Schlabach knew he wanted to coach.

Coaching girls, well, that wasn't expected.

"I played for Charlie Huggins his last two years here, and Perry was an assistant.  I saved Coach Huggins' practice schedules every day.  I knew then that I enjoyed it," he said.

"Charlie was very difficult to play for, but I'm really glad I got the chance to play for him.  If I played 32 minutes, he expected zero turnovers.  There was no room for error.  I learned a lot about discipline under Coach Huggins and about relationships and motivation from Coach Reese."

When he was done playing at Malone, Hiland had a job open.  Actually two jobs.

"It just so happened that after I graduated from Malone, there was an opening for seventh and eighth grade girls here. They asked if I'd take them both," he said with a laugh.

Schlabach coached the junior high Hawks for a year, then moved up to coach the junior varsity for a season.

After that, he was asked to take over for Ora Shetler, who left Hiland with a 92-26 record over five seasons that included back-to-back trips to the state Final Four.

Schlabach improved his win totals each of his first five seasons, but didn't advance to regionals until his sixth season.

"As a young coach, I thought I knew it all, but when I look back, I did a terrible job," he said.  "I worked hard, but not smart, and it took awhile to figure things out.

"Then my staff developed -- Rob Moser's been with me a long time.  Cous (David Borter) came on, and I have four former players on my staff -- even the biddy ball coaches are former players.  We have a system in place, and we get it taught the way we want it taught."

System in place

 In 1997, Hiland's girls went 24-3 and won district and regional titles on their way to state.  The Hawks were a perfect 28-0 in winning the 2000 state championship, a feat they repeated in 2004-05.  They won back-to back titles by repeating in 2006, saw their streak of getting to Columbus snapped in 2007, then rebounded to go 27-1 and win the program's fourth state crown in 2008.

Last year, Hiland was 26-2 and advanced to the title game, where it was defeated by Columbus Africentric.

But that team had just one senior, so it shouldn't take long for Schlabach, 396-57 in his tenure, to get to 400 wins and beyond.

"Leadership starts at the top, with Dave, I've learned a lot from him," said Borter, on the staff since 1998.  "I've come to get a true appreciation for his philosophy, his discipline and his work ethic.  It's easy to see why the kids are so successful.

"We try to keep finding ways to get better," Borter added.  "When you're relaxing, there's someone out there working to beat you.  Our philosophy is to work harder than anyone else.  If you work hard, prepare, have discipline, winning is a by-product of that.  It's a testament to Dave."

With more than 150 younger kids involved in a program that starts when they're in kindergarten, the winning isn't likely to slow down anytime soon.

"We're no more athletic than anyone else in Ohio," Schlabach said.  "But do you see those 10 managers over there?  Six years from now, you'll likely see them on the floor for us."

The little coach

Mark Schlabach's coaching career started when he was still in grade school.

"I can remember being in elementary school when Dave started coaching in junior high," he said.  "I was his manager and assistant coach.. There's no question he's been my biggest influence."

"Dave was a role model for Mark, no doubt.  You can see that," said Erik Beun, Hiland's athletic director and Mark's brother-in-law.

"Him being 10 years younger, when we did camps in the summer, he'd go along," Dave remembered.  "I'd be talking about ballhandling and he'd demonstrate.  Really he had no choice."

Following his high school days, Mark made the short trip north to play for The College of Wooster, although in that strong program, he did more coaching than playing as a reserve point guard his four years there.

"It was totally obvious that Mark was going to be a coach," Wooster's longtime coach Steve Moore said.  "He was like another coach for us then, no doubt.

"He had great perception, he understood things, and he was always making suggestions.  He was very astute."

After graduating, Schlabach took a teaching and coaching job at Loudonville, guiding the Redbirds to Columbus two times.

Meanwhile, over in Berlin, Hiland was being coached by Keith Troyer, who took over from Reese while he started the battle he would eventually lose with brain cancer.

A tough call

Troyer is thought by many to be the best player Hiland has ever produced.  "He's a legend," Mark Schlabach said of the school's first All-Ohio first-teamer, who, more than 20 years after graduating is No. 2 on the all-time scoring list.

But, after Reese's final three teams averaged 24 victories none of Troyer's five teams came close -- his best season was 21-4 in 2002-03, followed by records of 18-6 and 15-8.

Meanwhile, Mark and his family were settling in at Loudonville where the community loved their young coach who had taken their program to new heights.

Then, when Hiland decided a change was needed, the search began and ended just a couple of towns over on State Route 39.

Being asked to replace Troyer was "hard," Mark admitted.  "But when you play here, for us who played for Coach Reese, you get a real strong pull and feeling for this program.

"It was the hardest decision my family had to make, leaving Loudonville.  How good they were to us.  I felt that loyalty, but at the same time, I felt that loyalty that drew me back here," he added.  "Some teachers feel a calling, and some coaches too.  It was tough, but I felt that this was the right place for me to be.

"Yeah, pressure comes with the job, but I really think the loyalty to the program overrides all that stuff."

After five seasons, Mark's Hiland record is 79-21.  But with the 6-5 Kaufman handling the point and 6-7 junior Noah Boyd on the wing, the pieces are in place for another outstanding season.

And, along the way, the boys won't have to look far for an example of how hard their coach wants them to play.

"Dave and his staff develop players better than anyone in the state, and that comes back to being willing to put in the time.  It sets an example for the kids, and for us," Mark said.

"Our players hate it when I bring it up, how hard the girls team works.  It drives my players nuts, but they have to hear it."

Working together

Coaching at the same school and in the same gym has been enormously gratifying for both Schlabachs -- even if it means spending more time at practice.

"They always do stuff together, share ideas," Beun said.  "You come to practice, you see Mark working with Dave's post players, then Dave might help Mark's team with a press."

"I purposely come in early and spend time watching the boys practice.  I pick up something every day."

Dave said, "We're better because of the boys' staff -- I've learned a tremendous amount from Mark and his assistants."

"We're emotionally tied to each other's program," added Mark.  "Last year, when Adam Miller blew his knee out Dave was the first one to call, When Mykeila Mast (of the girls team) was hurt a week ago, our staff was devastated because we knew how hard she worked."

And, it's easy to see that Mark still looks up to the big brother who used to let him tag along years ago.

"It's kind of hard to brag about my brother, but I've seen a lot of basketball, girls and boys, and I don't think there's anyone better than Dave.  He could have been a college coach, but he chose to be here," Mark said.  "Now that I have kids of my own, I wonder what it might be like if he wasn't here when they come up through the program.  I realize then how important he is.

"The biggest thing Dave taught me -- it's not Xs and Os or anything fancy, it's how hard he works.  Nobody works harder," Mark added.  "Yeah, he's got some girls who can play, but there's no doubt that he can find ways to motivate them."

Today, the Schlabachs couldn't be happier to be together, both coaching at the school and coaching the sport they both love.

They're almost as happy to be at Hiland as Hiland is to have them.

"With both of those guys, a number of things stand out, a couple of things really stand out," Beun said.  "One, they care about kids, and two they care about making kids better.  Both of them will talk to anybody -- they're good at what they do, but they're always willing to step outside their comfort zone, all to make kids better.

"Dave does a great job early of establishing relationships with kids, and developing them all the way through.  That takes time and a lot of effort, and that's why kids want to work hard.  The same goes for Mark," Beun added.  "On top of that, they're great friends.  I feel really blessed to have them both in the program."