Hiland finally get tested, grind out Div. VI regional title win over Portsmouth West
· Yahoo Sports
ATHENS − It had been quite awhile.
During Hiland's 18-game winning streak going into Saturday's Division VI regional final at the Convovation Center at Ohio University, the Hawks hadn't been in a close game in over three weeks (68-58 win vs. Western Reserve Academy on Feb. 17). Before that game, the No. 3 ranked team in Division VI, according to MaxPreps, last played in a game they won by 10 points or less on January 10th in their 36-30 road win at Dover.
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For much of this season and especially in the last two months, Hiland have been running through teams and winning games pretty handily by 20, and sometimes 30 and even 40+ points. On Saturday, they met up against a Portsmouth West team that was ready to make the Hawks sweat.
They actually did, but Hiland (24-3) were able to hammer out a 48-35 victory over Portsmouth West (19-7) to earn a regional championship and clinch a State Final Four berth next week in Dayton.
"We've had one close game in the last while and it was against Western Reserve and Alex Miller didn't play in that. We said Alex Miller hasn't played in a close game in two months," said Hiland head coach Mark Schlabach, referring to his senior starting point guard. "We told our guys, 'We really shouldn't go to state without facing a little adversity and being in a game where you have to grind it out and feel the pressure. We can't win a state championship if we can't play in a game like that.' There was a lot of good to be able to play in a grinder of a game."
Did playing their first game in sometime throw off the guys on the court?
"Yes, definitely," said Hiland senior forward CJ Yoder. "We were not used to that."
"Definitely different," said Hiland senior forward Caleb Mishler. "Their fans were really loud. Kind of got in our heads but once we settled down, we were good."
Like against many of their opponents this season, Hiland get out to early leads. The Hawks did the same in this one, getting out to a 16-4 lead by mid-second quarter. However, the Senators were able to regather themselves and closed the quarter on a 16-7 run that had their fanbase riled up while being down just three points heading into halftime.
"We're used to taking teams out of their game but I just give their team a ton of credit because they could have folded," Schlabach said. "They settled in and we didn't help ourselves. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers that led to easy baskets for them. It wasn't a surprise. It was a battle and it was a grind. We had a chance to put them away early and we didn't."
A part of what gave Hiland considerable trouble throughout the 32 minutes of gametime was the 1-3-1 half-court defense Portsmouth West played that was different compared to the types of defenses Hiland has faced this season.
"With their 1-3-1, we haven't played against much zones all year," Yoder explained. "Especially how they played it, with it being so wide. We focused on trying to get the ball in the middle. Play from there and get post catches for our big guy."
"We've never played a zone like that," Mishler said. "Just find the open people and look in the middle. They couldn't guard that."
Said Schlabach,"We haven't seen a lot of that. We had one day to prep for it. We knew what they were going to do. What made their zone really good was that when we got the ball in the middle, they made adjustments really quickly. We really tried to get the ball to Ryan [Zerger] and there were a couple of times when we forced it."
The very wide 1-3-1 defensive look Portsmouth West threw at Hiland caused them to struggle on the offensive end for much of the night, as the 48 points the Hawks scored was their lowest point total in a game since Jan. 10th. Up just 33-31 early in the fourth quarter, Hiland's offense came alive with Miller scoring eight points (two 3-pointers), Mishler hit a key 3-pointer and Zerger (18 points) was on the receiving end of some quality passes that pushed the Hawks lead to 10.
With the Hawks finding it difficult on offense, Hiland spent the majority of the game, particularly in the fourth quarter, really leaning on their defense.
"We just said once we get to the fourth quarter, we had to rely on our defense," said Schlabach. "We said we were going to win this thing with our defense. I think we held them to six points in the fourth quarter."
"Because they played at such a slow pace, speeding them up was a big key to the game," Yoder said. "When No. 23 and No. 4 had the ball, just not letting them get in the paint and finish layups."
For a senior-laden team that Hiland has, making a State Final Four was expected from this group, especially after not even making it to regionals last season.
"That's a big thing, especially last year when we fell short in the district final," Yoder said. "Being here now is a big motivation boost."
"Coming up short last year, we were on fire to make state again," said Mishler. "This is our last run."
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This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Hiland boys defeat Portsmouth West to win Div. VI regional title