A Pirates’ surprise game plan can’t upend Hawks

While most people put stock in the old adage that players make or break games, coaching factors into it too, and on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the Garaway Pirates and Hiland Hawks squared off at the Reese Center at Hiland High School in a chess match that resulted in a 41-36 Hiland victory.

That the game was an absolute barnburner from start to finish wasn’t a shock to anyone because that has pretty much been the MO for these two squads for decades.

What was stunning was the game plan drawn up by Garaway head coach Terry Rowe and his staff, who have had very few practices following the school’s run to the football state semifinals. The plan allowed a serious run at victory on the Hawks’ home floor.

Garaway took out Tuscarawas Central Catholic in its season opener, flying up and down the floor at a breakneck pace.

With that one game to go on, Hiland head coach Mark Schlabach had his team prepare for that up-and-down style of play.

However, Rowe turned the tables and introduced a slowdown game of cat-and-mouse, taking the air out of the ball on offense and creating a game that crept along, which made each possession extremely important.

“We felt that was something we had to do because it gave us the best chance to win, and I thought our kids did a tremendous job of sticking to the game plan,” Rowe said.

The move almost helped Garaway pull off a stunner.

“All we had to go on was that TCC game when they played as fast as a team can play,” Schlabach said of the Pirates. “We’re working on transition defense for the last two days, and then they unleash this game on us.

“The strategy they went with worked well for them. We weren’t expecting it, and one thing it did was made every possession so valuable. You start to realize very quickly that every possession is high-pressure.”

Neither team was able to muster a lead of more than six points throughout the contest, and the lead teetered back and forth throughout.

Garaway’s Jenson Garber and Bronson Speedy helped Garaway push its halftime lead to 16-13 in a slow, grinding game.

Rowe had made the first move in this chess match of a game, and it was up to Schlabach and his staff to answer.

He did, mainly by implementing more set plays for big man Alex Yoder, who played a key role in the second half as the Hawks adjusted.

Yoder scored six points, and Nick Wigton’s trey then sent the Hawks to a 22-20 lead. A Garber triple tied it, and Wigton quickly untied it with a 3-pointer of his own.

Caleb Mishler’s 3-pointer would give the Hawks a 28-25 lead through three quarters, but the fun was just getting started.

Conner Beachy’s put-back pushed Hiland’s lead to five, but a pair of Speedy free throws and a Blaine Traber jumper drew the Pirates to within one. Wigton would drive and complete an and-one to push the lead back to five at 35-30, but a Jackson Reifenschneider score inside and a beautiful pass from Garber to Speedy again trimmed the Hiland lead to one with just over two minutes left.

Wigton would swish home a huge trey at 1:54, and Raber would respond with a picture-perfect jumper to cut Garaway’s deficit to two with 1:35 left.

Up stepped Wengerd, whose offensive rebound led directly to Wigton’s prior triple. Wengerd’s steal led to a free throw with 40 seconds left, giving the Hawks a 39-36 advantage. Then as the Pirates worked for a possible game-tying 3-pointer with 15 seconds left, Wengerd stepped in and made a monster steal, flying down the floor for a score with 12 seconds to play that wrapped up the win for the Hawks.

Wengerd, an unsung hero for Hiland because of his usefulness all over the court including the assignment of defending the opposing team’s best player, almost didn’t get the chance to be the hero.

“We ask a lot of Sam,” Schlabach said. “He got in foul trouble, and then Caleb hit a big three and so we gave him some more minutes, and Sam had been sitting on the bench for such a long stretch that we debated as to whether or not to put him back into the game down the stretch because it can be really tough to get back into the flow for a kid who has sat that long.”

However, Schlabach sent Wengerd back in, and his guard rewarded the decision.

Hiland has now won three of its four games, and all have been very tight. Garaway played just its second game, and with little practice time with the football scenario, it had reason to like some of what it saw.

“We’ve got a tough schedule for a reason,” Schlabach said. “And you know this one is going to be like this. There’s no break, but we tried not to put too much emphasis on this being a rival game. I think both of these teams will be a whole lot different and better come tournament time because both teams are still trying to figure things out.”

Rowe waited patiently for the football season to end, but with the majority of his players on the gridiron, he knew it would be a process in the early going, especially with star senior Gabe Amicone still working his way back from injury. He is expected back sometime around Christmas.

“We just need reps,” Rowe said. “We’re not using that as an excuse. It is just the way it is. This is a game that helps us get better, and we did some nice things tonight. We’ve got some strengths and weaknesses, and this is the time when we want to continue to execute better and learn and grow.”

Wigton scored 19 and Yoder added 10 to lead the Hawks while Speedy, Garber and Raber scored 11, 10 and nine points, respectively, for the Pirates.