LOGAN — It was a record day for the Hiland Hawks.

Not only did Hiland earn its Ohio High School Athletic Association-record 16th trip to the state girls basketball tournament with a convincing 61-23 triumph over Wheelersburg in the Division III regional championship Saturday afternoon at Logan High School, the Hawks padded the top spot in wins in OHSAA history with victory No. 850.

Lima Bath had been atop the wins column at 848, but the Hawks surpassed the program with a win over Albany Alexander in the regional semifinals on Wednesday.

With Brynn Mullet setting the table, drilling a pair of 3-pointers on Hiland's first two possessions, and Zoe Miller sticking back a miss with one of her 18 rebounds, the Hawks took a commanding lead in the first quarter and never took their foot off the gas. They cruised to the regional crown and a date with reigning state champion and top-ranked Columbus Africentric at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon in Value City Arena on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus.

"It never gets old," said veteran Hiland head coach Dave Schlabach, who has garnered five state titles and coached 14 of the 16 trips to the state final four. "It was a little anticlimactic with a 40-point win, but that was a good team. I think our pressure just surprises some people.

"I give our young kids credit. They just continue to step up," Schlabach continued. "We had a huge start, with Brynn (Mullet) hitting those 3s, and our defense and rebounding has been spectacular all year.

"Our role kids are really buying in. Kyli Horn is giving us another great scoring threat off the bench. Krista Troyer, Aila Miller, the girls are buying into their defensive roles."

Hiland (26-2), ranked No. 4 in Ohio in Division III, led 21-4 after the opening eight minutes of action.

Wheelersburg (23-5) finally got some traction late in the second quarter, outscoring the Hawks 9-0 heading into the break, but that merely closed the gap to 35-16.

But the Hawks opened things up in the third quarter on a 9-2 run as Miller, Yoder and Kendra Shetler scored inside and Horn tripled to put the clash into cruise control.

Miller, who finished with 16 points to go with her 18 boards, said she wasn't worried about anything. Her goal was to just go out and get the ball.

Yoder added 16 points. She said that any of the girls on the team are capable of erupting offensively, and if they feel it, they are supposed to shoot.

"It's nice to have so many teammates that are able to score, and we don't have to worry about missing, with Zoe going after rebounds the way she does," Yoder said.

Mullet, who finished with eight points, said she was glad her shots fell early and got her teammates going.

"I was fortunate those first few shots fell," she said. "If the shots aren't falling, I can always rely on my post players to get the rebound. They do it every single night. Zoe did a great job today."

Wheelersburg head coach Dusty Spradlin tipped his hat to the Hawks.

"We ran into a buzz saw today," Spradlin said. "We knew coming in that we needed to play well early. The problem is trying to replicate that physicality, that pace, and we struggled early.

"We kind of adjusted in the second quarter to their speed and physicality, but the problem is they had already given themselves a pretty good cushion," he added. "We got shots early. We just didn't make 'em. They came out, bang, bang, hit a couple 3s, and we're down. And when we have to come out and guard a little further, that opens things up inside. And they've got kids who can post up. It was a nightmare for us."

But it was a dream for the Hawks.

"I've been dreaming of going to state since I was a little girl," Yoder said. "This honestly means everything to me."