Shooting woes haunt Lady Hawks at state tournament

  • By Dave Mast and Kevin Lynch
  • March 25, 2010
  • 562
                        
When you play by the numbers, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The numbers for the Hiland Lady Hawks at Columbus during the 35th annual Ohio State Girls Basketball Tournament were not pretty. Somehow they managed to survive the first contest, but were not as fortunate in the second. In the opening semifinal contest against Minster, Hiland shot a paltry 18-of-53 from the floor, including a miserable 2-of-13 from the 3-point arc, committed a whopping 18 personal fouls, yet still managed to gut out a 49-48 win, perhaps on grit and past history more than anything else. The numbers got no better in the finals versus No. 3-ranked Harvest Prep, where the Lady Hawks connected on only 13-of-48 action shots for 27 percent, missing numerous layups in the process. Even uglier, remove Hilary Weaver’s performance, and the rest of the team connected on 7-of-36 action shots, a paltry 19 percent from the floor. That percentage is not enough to win a district title, let alone a state title against a top-notch team and the Div. IV Co-player of the Year Shicole Watts. Hiland couldn’t make up for the lack of offensive prowess with its suffocating defense and what could possibly be the greatest single defensive effort at the state tournament at any level by Jessica Stutzman, who took an eye-popping five charges, as well as a couple more which could have been called but weren’t. It added up to a 45-41 loss which left the Lady Hawks disheartened, considering the game was ripe to be won. No, the numbers were not kind to Hiland at this year’s state tournament. “Ultimately, you’ve still got to make shots as hard as you play and as physical as you play,” said Hiland coach Dave Schlabach. “Hil (Weaver) did a great job distributing the basketball. It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t get that next shot to fall.” For most programs, achieving a state runner-up trophy would leave teams giddy once the effects of the final loss wore off. Some day this one may have happy memories for Hiland’s players, coaches and fans, but when you make a habit of circling this particular March weekend in Columbus on your calendar the way Hiland does each year, falling one game short provides little reason to celebrate -- even though it should be looked at for what it is -- an amazing accomplishment. Just as Schlabach has always said in the past, the Lady Hawks strive for a championship every year, and every step of the way is precious. Every trophy garnered, every championship round from sectional, district, regional and state is worthy of celebrating, because you never know when the next time might be the last time. Still, for this group of seniors in particular, the sting of this loss, coupled with last year’s collapse to Africentric in the finals certainly will be tough to forget despite the team’s heroic efforts. Division IV State Semifinal Hiland vs. Minster The Lady Hawks tackled an unranked Minster team which Schlabach knew was not going to be a pushover. That quickly became apparent in the first quarter, when the two teams traded buckets and leads the entire time, until Minster pulled ahead 12-11 to lead after one quarter. Minster, obviously, had the Lady Hawks well scouted, making it difficult for Hiland to get into an offensive rhythm. “They knew all our sets. A lot of times when we would do our cuts, they would call it out before we got to make the cut. They were very well prepared,” said Weaver. If Minster struck fear into the hearts of the Hiland faithful who figured it was going to be a walk in the park to get to the finals, then the fear must have really got rolling in the second quarter. A Weaver layup put Hiland up 15-12, but then Minster went on a 11-2 run which spotted them a 23-17 lead. When Weaver connected on a jumper with 14 seconds remaining in the half, the Hawks trailed 23-19, and the game was on for good. Some teams might feel the noose tightening at times like this, but Schlabach had great faith in his senior-laden team. “I feel a sense of confidence with this group,” Schlabach said. “I’ve got such great leaders. These kids have all played four years. Jess (Stutzman) played a phenomenal game for us. That kid is hurting really, really bad. She physically helps will our team along sometimes. With a group like this, sometimes you just turn it over to them.” Indeed, it didn’t take long for Hiland to crawl back into it. McKenzie Miller scored twice on layups. Weaver hit two free throws and when Noelle Yoder drained a long triple, the Lady Hawks led 28-23. Many times this season, Hiland opponents have fallen to pieces at this point, but Minster battled right back. When Maria Dahlinghaus hit a jumper with 47 ticks left in the third quarter, Minster was back on top at 32-21. “I knew they were going to come back out and turn up the pressure… and they did,” Minster mentor Nann Stechshulte said. “They jumped the ball right away and we turned it over. We had 15 turnovers and they had eight. They came at us the whole game, and we knew that was going to happen.” A hectic final quarter saw the two teams trying to deliver knockout punches, but like two heavyweights with their eyes set on winning, neither went down for the count. With the game knotted at 39 with 4:47 to play, Minster gave itself a golden opportunity to ice the game away. A 9-2 run put them up 48-41 with 2:50 left to play, but if Hiland shot poorly from the field, Minster’s inability to connect from the charity stripe down the stretch certainly spelled doom for them. Katelyn Stuckey hit a layup at the 2:41 mark. Yoder tipped in a miss by McKenzie Miller at 1:55. Jessica Stutzman hit a pair of free throws to make it 47-46 with 1:50 to play. During that span, Minster committed three turnovers. After the teams traded turnovers, Minster’s Erica Fullencamp strode to the line for two free throws with 33 seconds to play, and promptly missed both. While the Lady Hawks may have shot poorly all game, when it counted most, Stuckey came through, scoring inside with 18 seconds to play to give Hiland its first lead since mid-way through the third period. Still, the game lay in the balance, and only when Tara Clune baseline jumper at the buzzer sailed off the front of the iron could the Hiland faithful breathe a sigh of relief. The Lady Hawks would live to fight another day. “It was just another layup,” Stuckey said. “I didn’t really think too much about it. We always practice that whenever one of the guards drive in, I should always be ready for a pass when the defense collapses on them. It’s not a set play. We just read the defense.” With the game up for grabs with Fullencamp on the line, Schlabach turned the game over to his senior leader, Weaver. “With 30 seconds left, Hil (Weaver) looked over at me when they were shooting free throws,” Schlabach said. “I told her this is what I want if they make them both; this is what I want if they don’t. She just takes it from there.” Weaver led Hiland’s balanced attack with 12 points and Yoder finished with 11. Miller added nine points and Stuckey chipped in eight. Stutzman finished with seven and Hannah Stoneman rounded things out with two points. Dahlinghaus and Fullencamp each scored 12 and Wolf added 11 for the Wildcats, who bow out with an 18-8 record. “Both teams played pretty good defense,” Stechshulte said. “I felt my girls made some great plays, and his kids made some great plays. When it came down to it, we had 15 turnovers, they had eight. They were 11-of-13 from the line and we were nine-for-16. It reminds me of a quote I’ve been telling the girls the last four weeks: free throws don’t win all the games, just the close ones.” Division IV State Final Hiland vs. Harvest Prep What began as a great game for the Lady Hawks in the State final turned into a horror story late. Using its patented stifling defensive pressure, Hiland raced out to an 11-4 advantage in the game’s first six minutes. After trailing 4-2, Hiland went on a tear, using Hilary Weaver’s twisting layup and 3-pointer, Jessica Stutzman’s free throw and layup and Stuckey’s free throw to forge a 9-0 run. Even when Harvest Prep’s Jarel Francis connected late in the quarter, Hiland still owned a 13-9 advantage. That lead stretched to seven on a Weaver layup and to nine when Yoder drilled a 3-pointer to give the Lady Hawks a 20-11 lead, and all looked good for Hiland’s chances. After Harvest Prep cut the lead to three at 20-17, Hiland stretched the lead back to eight on a Weaver layup, her two free throws and another charity toss by Reagan Miller. Hiland led at the half 27-21. That lead evaporated quickly, and by the five minute mark of the third quarter the game was tied at 32 all when Watts connected. Yoder gave the Hawks a 35-32 edge with her second 3-pointer, but the missed layups would begin to pile up and haunt the Lady Hawks, and Harvest Prep took its first lead since the game’s opening moments at 36-35 on a layup by Destiny Turner. When Stutzman made a bucket with eight seconds to play in the quarter, Harvest Prep owned a 38-37 advantage. Weaver, who had carved up her opponents to the tune of 14 first-half points, was kept in check, scoring only two. “Weaver had more than half their points at halftime,” Harvest Prep coach David Dennis said. “We picked up our intensity, made things tougher for her, and we got some better results on the offensive end.” In a frenzied final minute, in a game which saw Stutzman drawing charges like a high-end credit card company, it was a crucial call at mid-court that may have been the turning point of the contest. With the two teams having battle back and forth to a tied game at 41 with 30 seconds to play, Harvest Prep freshman Cheyenne Rose headed down court with the ball. As she uncorked a wild heave down floor, which eventually went out of bounds, Weaver slid in front of her in an attempt to take a charge. The ensuing collision sent both players sprawling long after the ball had left Rose’s hands. The call could have gone either way. It went to Rose. Weaver was whistled for the foul and Rose buried the biggest free throws of her life, giving Harvest Prep a 43-41 advantage with 36 seconds to play. “I saw that she was out of control and set my feet, and fell back when she ran over me, but I guess the call went the other way,” Weaver said. “I don’t think I did a very good job of coaching there,” Hiland coach Dave Schlabach said. “Maybe I should have taken a time out to set up our press. This group has figured out a way from the first day of summer. I felt very confident with our group.” After Rose gave Harvest Prep the lead, Weaver’s pass to Katelyn Stuckey inside for a shot at a tying bucket was intercepted by Shicole Watts with 25 seconds remaining. The Warriors called time out, which allowed Hiland to get into its press and Weaver came up with a steal on the inbounds play. However, as Weaver raced down court for a possible game-tying bucket, Destiny Turner poked the ball away from her, and the errant ball found its way into Watt’s hands. Watts was fouled. Obviously physically drained, the Division IV co-player of the year — an honor she shared with Weaver — showed exactly why she earned that honor, putting aside the physical exhaustion and calmly dropping in both charity tosses with 15 seconds remaining, giving the Warriors a 45-41 lead it would end the game with. As for Hiland’s poor shooting, Schlabach said that Watts’ physical presence may have had something to do with it, but noted, “I don’t think it was anything they did. We just couldn’t knock down a shot on consecutive possessions, and stretch anything out when we had opportunities,” Schlabach said. “It wasn’t from an effort standpoint. This group played extremely hard. I take a look at the stat sheet here, and see we took 15 free throws in the first half; we got none in the second. Our inability, for whatever reason, to get to the free throw line in the second half was big. We struggled with their size inside and finishing shots.” So, rather than add a fifth title to its illustrious girls program, instead, the Lady Hawks came home with a third State runner-up title. Four State championships, three runner-up efforts and 11 total State tournament appearances looks great on any school’s resume. Just don’t expect the Lady Hawks to look back fondly on this memory — at least not for a while. On a side note, Hiland’s appearance did tie them for the most appearances at the State tournament by any schools in OHSAA girls basketball history. The 11 appearances ties them with Pickerington Central, and moves them past Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans and Delphos St. John’s. Even though the ultimate victory eluded them, that is a benchmark which displays how much heart, desire and effort goes into the Lady Hawks’ program.


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