Hawks share IVC South crown, ready for tourney run

When the Hiland Hawks put the wraps on their regular season conference play with a very convincing 61-26 thrashing of Claymont on Tuesday, Feb. 13 in their home finale at the Perry Reese Community Center in Berlin, it capped off another addition to the ever-growing number of league titles the Hawks have had a share of over the past years.

The Hawks shared the Inter-Valley Conference South title with Indian Valley this season after the Braves dealt the Hawks a late-season loss in a thrill-a-minute game in Gnadenhutten.

In doing so, Mark Schlabach’s crew completed one of its goals for the season in adding to the list of league championships.

“We talk about it, and as far as the league is concerned, we know the kids appreciate that achievement,” Schlabach said. “It’s one of those lifelong bragging things, and it’s always nice to be able to win a league title for the kids who are playing.”

Hiland earned at least a share of the league title for the seventh time in the past decade and 26th overall.

While it was a goal for this team, Schlabach said there are different levels of goals, and this one only serves as a steppingstone to the ones that truly matter the most.

“I think our kids understand that there are different goals at stake every year,” Schlabach said. “Obviously, what we do in tournament time is the most important part of the year, and we are getting locked in right now and ready for that challenge.”

That leaves the Hawks poised to move into tournament play after they finish off a successful regular season, and along the way, this team has had to battle through a very difficult schedule that in terms of difficulty ranks second in Division IV, sitting only behind Richmond Heights.

“We’re proud of the fact that we build a difficult schedule,” Schlabach said. “We think we’ve played the second toughest schedule in the state behind Richmond Heights, and because we have created such a difficult schedule, we aren’t going to see anything in the tournament that we haven’t seen before this year.”

Schlabach said keeping expectations high despite slogging through a rough schedule that can deliver losses more than the players might want is part of building mental toughness and preparing them for the rigors of tournament play, where every possession matters.

“It’s tough because you play Linsly one night and get a really tough Indian Valley team the next night, and you’re constantly trying to get yourself amped up,” Schlabach said. “We’ve had so many tough games this year that it makes us mentally tougher, and we hope when we are in those tight situations come tournament time it has us prepared. We want to push our kids. That’s the point of the schedule, and we feel very confident that our kids can handle it.”

While it currently stands at 15-5, Hiland has faced a terrifying lineup of opponents this season, from conference challengers like Indian Valley, Sandy Valley and Garaway to nonconference foes such as Linsly, Ottawa-Glandorf, Lutheran East, Dover, Triway, University and Spire Institute.

The Hawks also have had to do that while wading through a laundry list of lost games to injuries that included the season-ending injury to senior big-man Alex Yoder, so Schlabach believes all of that has more than prepared his team for whatever lies ahead in the tournament run.

“At this point it’s just a matter of executing,” Schlabach said. “We are still trying to feel our way through a little bit with big Al being out, but I think our guys are starting to come around on some new and different roles. Defensively, we are doing fine. It’s just a matter of offensively finding the best way to fill those eight to 10 points Al gave us every night.”

That brutal schedule has led the Hawks to an inordinate number of tight games, with 14 of Hiland’s 20 contests resulting in games decided by 10 or fewer points.

“We feel strongly that our kids can handle losing in the regular season if it makes us better and gets us ready for what really matters,” Schlabach said. “I know a lot of coaches wouldn’t agree with that, but it’s something we believe in.”

That belief has worked well for a program that continues to be one of the most successful in the state of Ohio, and despite a handful of losses this season, history has shown this method has paved the way for success for the Hawks.