Hawks steal 48-43 win over Pirates Boyd’s late heroics preserve perfect season for Hiland

                        
If anyone at Hiland and Garaway’s epic battle at the Perry Reese Center last Saturday night wanted more bang for their entertainment buck, they must be extremely tough to please. In a week when Hiland played three games, including back-to-back on Friday and Saturday vs. Malvern and Garaway, and the Pirates played four, the two teams left nothing in the locker room. It was a rare sight when on any given trip up and down the court, someone wasn’t diving on the floor. All of that energy, hustle and desire went into another classic in a long line of Garaway/Hiland gems that wasn’t decided until the final seconds of the game, when the Hawks pulled out a stunning 48-43 win. Their winning margin matched the biggest lead of the game. The evening was exactly what fans of the two schools have come to expect when it comes to this hard-hitting rivalry. “I’m proud of our kids,” said Garaway skipper Dave Shutt. “We gave a phenomenal effort tonight. We had them where we wanted them, and let them off the hook. In the end, they just made more plays down the stretch than we did.” In a game full of plenty of plays being made, there was none bigger than the two made in the game’s final seconds. With the Hawks trailing 43-42 with 38 seconds to play, Luke Burch sliced down the lane for a layup to give Hiland a 44-43 lead. Garaway star Paul Honigford let a 3-pointer go from near the Pirates’ bench with 15 seconds to go, and on the miss, the rebound caromed to Garaway’s Jake Troyer. As Troyer turned to make a move, Hiland’s Braden Conn dove in and tipped the ball away, where it rolled out to Noah Boyd who fell on it, and smartly called a timeout. Following the inbound play, the Hawks got the ball to Josh Yoder, who split two free throws with 13.6 seconds to play, making it 45-43. In the Garaway huddle at the timeout, Shutt decided to go for the win on the road, looking for a 3-pointer. That chance never came, as Boyd stepped in and picked off a pass near the scorer’s table, where he was intentionally fouled with 1.2 seconds to play. He split the pair, and the Hawks got a layup by Burch at the buzzer to complete a game which should become an instant classic in this rivalry. “We played a great game defensively tonight,” said Schlabach. “We just kept battling. The kids are absolutely spent coming off of these last two games. We’re emotionally and physically drained. Noah did not have a good game offensively, but he played very well defensively. That’s the sign of a good team player, when they struggle on offense but still make that kind of contribution.” The officials let the teams go at it, with neither team getting to the bonus until the final seconds, which led to plenty of wild, frenzied skirmishes throughout the evening. In a game of this magnitude, with both teams undefeated in league play this late in the season, it’s up to players to make the plays which decide the fate of both teams. “I think Dave and I agree, that letting them play was the way to go,” said Schlabach. “When kids play that hard, you want them to be the ones who determine the outcome of the game. I thought it really made for a great flow.” This one was bound for greatness nearly from the beginning. Garaway got out to a 5-0 lead, but the Hawks battled back to tie it at 7. When Hunter Shaw split a pair of free throws to end the first quarter, the Pirates led 13-12. Dylan Kaufman took over midway through the second with six straight points to give Hiland a 20-17 edge, but Honigford answered right back, with a 15-footer and two free throws to give Garaway the lead. Burch then went coast-to-coast to provide the Hawks with a 22-21 halftime lead. Hiland came out of the gate on a Burch steal and layup, and a spectacular back-door pass from Conn to Burch to forge a 26-21 lead. But the Pirates came right back with buckets from Brennan Mullet, Tanner Klein and two by Honigford for a 29-26 lead. “That was the only time all night that I felt that we let down defensively,” said Schlabach, of the eight straight Pirate points. When Honigford hit a drive inside and a foul shot to end the third, the Pirates led 32-28. The fourth quarter was more of the same, as the two clubs went back and forth. Burch went the length of the floor to make it 35-34 Hiland. Honigford hit a 16-footer. Kaufman hit a twisting layup; Troyer hit a pair of free throws. Burch drained to charity tosses; Honigford answered inside. Kaufman connected on a 3-pointer; Troyer responded in kind, setting up the game’s final heroics. “We let one get away,” said Shutt, of the ending. “We had the ball and were up with 48 seconds to play. We kept the score right where we wanted it in the 40s. We were on the road, in a hostile environment, and we had a shot.” Kaufman led the Hawks with 20 points, while Burch added 16. Honigford paced the Pirates with 19, and Troyer added 14. It was two teams, who know and respect each other well, who were doing everything in their power to get a “W”. In a game so well played and entertaining, it’s a shame someone had to come out on the losing end. Garaway’s JV team gave the Pirates something to enjoy on the night, earning a 48-47 win on a buzzer-beater tip-in, in a contest which was every bit as exciting as the varsity game.


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load