Hawks hang on to topple Tigers
Hiland had flashes of brilliance Tuesday, Dec. 22, against visiting Strasburg, but at other times, the Hawks looked very beatable.“From the get go, we were not sharp tonight,” Hiland coach Mark Schlabach said. “Turnovers, missed layups, we weren’t sharp at either end of the floor. We just didn’t have it tonight, so we were pretty lucky to come out of here with a win.”
The Hawks improved their season record to 3-0 with a 67-61 win over the Tigers, who refused to go away.
“When you start off a game sloppy, it’s really hard to recover,” Schlabach said. “We had some stretches where we looked good, but to be able to stay sharp if you don’t start sharp, is a tough thing to overcome.”
Seger Bonifant, Strasburg’s 6-7 sophomore post, scored on a stickback off the opening tip to give the Tigers an early lead.
Dylan Kaufman scored the next seven points for the Hawks, who stole one inbounds pass after another.
A pair of free throws by Jalen Miller made it 9-2 Hiland before the Tigers settled into their game and began chipping away. Triples from Lance Dillehay and Ryan Froman pulled Strasburg back to within one at 11-10, and a Froman layup gave the Tigers a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A Kaufman stickback put the Hawks back on top early in the second quarter, and a Jalen Miller 3-pointer extended the lead to four. The Hawks held a five-point lead, 33-28, at intermission.
Bonifant, who led a trio of Tigers in double-figure scoring with 16, opened the second half with a bucket to pull Strasburg back within three.
Noah Boyd, who had been held scoreless in the first half, buried a triple, and Kaufman followed with a three-point play off a steal and the Hawks were up nine, 39-30.
Tyler Bell dialed up a deep shot for the Tigers, but Josh Yoder answered back at the other end. Yoder dropped another bomb on Strasburg and the Hawks held a 10-point lead. A Dillehay trey trimmed the Hiland lead to three late in the quarter, but Boyd busted another long one to give the Hawks a six-point lead, 50-44, heading into the final frame.
“Every experience for us is a learning experience,” Strasburg coach Shawn Miller said. “We needed to limit their possessions. We gave up too many second chance opportunities. They hit the big shots and kept the lead and never let us get back to even. We had trouble getting over the hump tonight.”
A Kaufman 3-pointer, and a Boyd stickback stretched the lead out to nine, and a Luke Burch bunny, followed by a pair of Burch free throws, gave Hiland its largest lead, 63-49, with just over three minutes left in the game.
Tiger triples from Bell and Drew Zuercher trimmed the Hiland lead back to six with less than 90 seconds remaining, but the Tigers would not be able to get any closer.
“I’m proud of our boys’ effort tonight,” Miller said. “Hiland’s a difficult place to play. We had our opportunities. We just didn’t take advantage of them.
“Kaufman’s going to get his points. We would rather he shoot from the outside than drive,” the Strasburg coach continued. “He’s a great player. They just made more plays than we did tonight.”
Kaufman led all scorers with 25 points, one of four Hawks in double figures.
Josh Yoder continued his offensive surge with 15 points. Boyd finished with 11 points and Jalen Miller wound up with 10. Burch rounded out the Hiland scoring with six.
“Jalen had a really nice game tonight. He was probably the one big bright spot we had,” Schlabach said. “We had guys score big, but then we only had five guys score, which is kind of uncharacteristic. We had nice balance, but we’d like to have more guys contribute.”
The Hiland JV were also victorious, winning 52-22.