For the Hiland Hawks to come away with a win in the Division IV Sectional championship Saturday, March 6, at New Philadelphia against Strasburg, it was just a matter of the players practicing what coach Mark Schlabach preaches.
We preach a lot about consecutive stops. We feel that is the key to winning big games, getting stops consecutively, Schlabach said. Those are the runs that make the difference.
It was a stretch of five empty possessions by the Tigers in the fourth quarter that turned a 43-41 nail-biter into a 61-52 win by the Hawks, advancing Hiland to District action Wednesday, March 10, at Meadowbrook.
That stretch we got (of consecutive stops) there in the fourth quarter was the one we needed, Schlabach said. It felt like we couldnt stop them. Finally we got three or four stops there, and on all three of those possessions we scored, and from there we just had to make foul shots.
The Tigers battled tooth and nail, point for point, from the start. Seger Bonifant scored a 3-point play on the opening possession of the game and they traded leads a couple of times in the first period with the Hawks holding a 16-13 lead after one.
Strasburg held Hiland to three field goals in the second period, two of them coming early when the Hawks built a 20-15 lead on a long Jalen Miller jumper.
The Tigers pulled ahead 21-20 and took a 23-22 lead into the locker room at intermission.
They did a good job of contesting everything, Schlabach said. We got so few open looks; its hard to make shots when you dont get open looks. We didnt get those outside shots to go down, and that was more their defense than anything else.
I dont know what it is, but in big games in the regular season over the last five years, theyve gotten us. Theyre not afraid to play us, and it showed tonight, Schlabach added.
After Josh Yoder scored to put the Hawks ahead 24-23 to open the third quarter, Hunter Schneiter struck right back for Strasburg with a jumper. Luke Burch drilled a triple to put the Hawks up 27-25, but Bonifant answered for the Tigers to tie things up at 27.
Dylan Kaufman scored and Burch followed with a 3-point play off a turnover. Kaufman scored again off a Strasburg miss, and the Hawks held a 34-27 lead midway through the third quarter.
We had a chance there in the third quarter to put them away, but they went on a 7-0 run and took the lead from us, Schlabach said. There is no give up in their kids. They had a great game plan, but we executed a little bit more down the stretch, and that was it.
Tyler Bell drilled a 3-pointer to stop the Hiland run.
Bonifant added a 3-point play and another bucket inside to pull the Tigers back within one, and they took the lead on a Ryan Froman layup.
Jalen Miller gave the Hawks a 39-37 lead with a 3-pointer as the third quarter came to a close.
Schneiter scored to tie the game as the fourth quarter started, and a pair of Kaufman free throws and a field goal from Noah Boyd put the Hawks up 43-39. Bonifant answered again for the Tigers to pull Strasburg back within two.
He is really an impossible matchup for everybody, and for us in particular, Schlabach said of Bonifant, the 6-6 sophomore of Strasburg. Hes just really good. He can score in so many ways. I thought Noah did a good job against him. Finally in the fourth quarter, he missed his first shot of the game. Noah battling him all night finally paid off in the fourth quarter.
Kaufman connected on a pair of free throws and after a missed triple attempt by the Tigers, Burch scored on a swooping layup to give the Hawks a 47-41 lead.
The Tigers came up empty on their next trip down the floor, and Burch answered at the other end with a stickback, and an 8-point Hiland lead midway through the final frame.
Strasburg called a timeout, and misfired on a 3-point attempt. After a Hiland miss, Burch came up with a steal and a score to put the game out of reach at 51-41 with just over three minutes remaining.
The Tigers missed again and Boyd answered with a 3-point play and Hiland held a 13-point advantage, and finished off the Tigers by scoring at the stripe down the stretch.
We got a couple big stops late. We were just very fortunate, Schlabach said. Luke was great at the defensive end and great at the offensive end. He had a big offensive rebound and he came up with a big steal. He was everywhere.
In games like these, you always need somebody to do something that youre not expecting, the coach continued. Tonight it was Luke. He did a lot of things, really, really good. To be honest, that was a huge reason why we won that game.
Burch finished with 18 points to pace Hiland. Kaufman was next with 16.
Luke got to the rim and Dylan got to the rim a couple times, posting up, and we just kind of abandoned our idea of shooting a bunch of threes, Schlabach said.
Boyd scored nine points and Jalen Miller added seven. Josh Yoder and Braden Conn scored four points apiece and Chaise Gerber rounded out the Hiland offensive with a pair.
Bonifant led all scorers with 22 points. He shot 8-of-9 from the floor and added 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Seger is such a great passer, which allows him to get everyone else involved in the game, Strasburg coach Shawn Miller said. He made the plays tonight. He just needed a bit more help. With the young team we had this year, I thought we made great strides. We came here tonight to win, and to fall short is frustrating.
Im proud of our boys, the coach continued. This is something we can build on, and make sure it doesnt happen next year.
The Hawks advance to try and tame more Tigers, 22-0 Shadyside.
As their record shows, they just know how to win basketball games. Weve seen them a couple times. They were down 16 in the first half the other night, and came back and won by 16, Schlabach said. Theyve got a great group of seniors and they know how to win. Its going to be a big challenge. Were looking forward to it. Were looking forward to going in there in the underdog role.
