Hawks continue trend of tight games in pair of wins
With two key starters toting crutches this season in Hunter Sommers, left, and Chris Shetler, Hiland has had to learn to find various ways to win games. It is working, with Hiland winning the majority of a host of very tight ball games.
One thing is for certain with Mark Schlabach’s Hiland Hawks this season: They will be ready for the tight action of tournament play.
Playing 32 minutes wasn’t enough for the Hiland Hawks and Indian Valley Braves to decide a victor on Friday, Jan. 29, so the two IVC foes went not one but two extra periods to decide a winner.
Hiland eked out a 55-52 double-overtime win, marking the seventh game this season that has been decided by four or fewer points, along with several others that were within nine points.
This contest saw the two teams knock heads throughout, neither team gaining much of an upper hand. Hiland did manage to take a seven-point lead early in the second period, only to watch it disappear as Lucas Hagen started to light it up from downtown, and by the half the Braves led 23-20. Hiland tied the score up after three quarters, setting the stage for a wild ride the rest of the way.
With the Hawks up by two, Sam Caley hit a jumper to tie things at 37, and Isaac Klaserner, who didn’t score in the first half, scored his 10th point of the game on a jumper to give IV a lead with under a minute to play. When Hiland turned it over and Klaserner hit two free throws with 28 seconds left, the Braves held their largest lead at 41-37.
Up stepped Grant Miller of Hiland, drilling a 3-pointer with 0:19.8 left to draw Hiland to within one. Caley calmly hit two free throws for a three-point IV lead, but with seconds ticking away, Will Schlabach drove baseline and threw a dart to Miller, who ripped the chords to tie the game just before time expired to send it into overtime.
Schlabach hit four-consecutive free throws to give the Hawks a four-point lead, with Klaserner’s drive cutting it back to two. After a Hiland turnover, Schlabach made a steal and fed Isaac Slabaugh to push the lead back to four at 49-45. However, Grant Tschudy sandwiched four-straight free throws around a Caley steal, and Hiland went for the final shot, working about 45 seconds off the clock before Schlabach’s 3-point try ricocheted off the rim and the game went into a second overtime period.
Indian Valley came up with three-straight steals to begin the period but couldn’t capitalize much, with Klaserner splitting two free throws on the final steal for a one-point Indian Valley lead.
Hiland then grabbed the lead for good on a drive by Ryan Miller, and after a Braves miss with one minute to play, Slabaugh was fouled, hitting the first attempt. His misfire on the second was rebounded by Schlabach, who was fouled with 21 seconds to play. He nailed both attempts for a 54-50 Hawks advantage.
Klaserner’s put-back with 13 seconds left drew Indian Valley to within 54-52, and when Ryan Miller split a pair of free throws with five seconds to play, the Braves had hope. After a pass to midcourt and a time-out, the Braves looked to Klaserner, whose 3-point attempt rimmed out and the Hawks had another tight win.
Indian Valley was paced by Klaserner’s 15 points while Hagen added 13, Caley scored 10 and Tschudy added six. Hiland was led by Schlabach’s 16 points, with Slabaugh adding 12 and Grant Miller and Ryan Miller each adding 10. Caley hauled in eight rebounds for the Braves while the Hawks were led by Schlabach’s five caroms.
Hiland 61
Sandy Valley 50
It would appear as though the Hawks finally got a bit of a breather in an 11-point win over Sandy Valley, but that final score was not indicative of how tight this game was.
Treys from Grant Miller and Caden Miller pushed Hiland to a 13-10 lead through one quarter, and Grant Miller and Schlabach scored four points apiece, Slabaugh added three, and Meech Adams poured in seven second-quarter points as the Hawks took a 24-20 halftime lead.
However, Cardinals Kaiden Mastri and Brady Russell muscled the Cardinals back into play, scoring 11 points in the third period between them to trim Hiland’s lead to a scant one point at 40-39 through three quarters.
Perhaps all of these tight contests paid off in this one because the Hawks poured in 21 points in the final quarter to pull away late. In that quarter Schlabach and Ryan Miller each scored seven points.
In a balanced attack, Slabaugh scored 15, Schlabach added 13, Ryan Miller netted nine, Caden Miller and Grant Miller both scored eight, and Dylan Weaver added five. Evans paced Sandy Valley with 13 while Mastri added 12 and Russell scored 10.