No pressure, no diamonds

Diamonds, one of the most coveted goods on the face of the earth, are simply chunks of coal put under incredible pressure, and over time, they metamorphosed into something rare and special.Last season, the Hiland Hawks boys basketball team transformed a work in progress into a State championship, creating a nearly perfect 27-1 season into one of the most memorable hoops seasons in school history.Now, with a lot of talent returning, the Ohio high school basketball world turns its attention to the big question: Can the Hawks do it again? Can they repeat?The defense of a State title brings with it loads of pressure, but as of now, Mark Schlabach’s Hawks aren’t thinking about Columbus, or District play, or making any kind of extended tournament run.All pressure aside, their focus is squarely on the here and now.“Right now, we aren’t very good, and we aren’t were we want to be,” said Schlabach. “That’s where our attention is... just making ourselves better.“That whole defending the State title thing, I don’t even think we really look at it like that,” said Schlabach. “It’s so far out there. We’ve got so much to worry about that isn’t attached to that, that we don’t think about it.”The Hawks may not be thinking about it, but every single one of their opponents is, and Schlabach understands that.Any time a team wins a title, that team is marked the coming year, a big old bull’s-eye squarely on their collective chests, every team wanting to get a piece of that, to be able to say that they knocked off the defending State champs.“It makes the bull’s-eye pretty huge,” agreed Schlabach. “Other teams aren’t going to feel sorry for us now that Luke is hurt. It doesn’t make the bull’s-eye any smaller. We can’t spend time feeling sorry for ourselves because nobody else will, and we will be number one on everybody’s list, we know that. We will be tested every night.”Schlabach said that is fine with them, because in the end, playing at a high level of competition night in and night out will help prepare the Hawks for what they hope will be another lengthy tournament trail run.Fortunately, Schlabach has a pretty decent source to turn to for advice when it comes to dealing with how to focus and approach a season following a title year. His older brother Dave Schlabach, coach of the Hiland Lady Hawks, has had the pleasure and pressure of defending a State title, no less than four times.The younger Schlabach said he has talked with his older brother many times, and having someone experienced to turn to on how to deal with the pressure put on a team following a championship year from other teams, from fans and even within, is a nice resource.“Dave told me that some of his toughest years, both in the summer and in the season, have come on the heels of winning it all,” said Schlabach. “Kids can lose motivation a little bit, other teams are more motivated and people forget how much has to go right.”Schlabach knows that the focus and intensity needed to continue the success comes from the head coach and trickles down, which is why he feels that keeping the team focused on the here and now, focused on getting better each day, is where they need to turn their attention.Even as John Q. Public talks at the local diner about how this team is loaded, about how it can and will repeat, and scrutinizes every little aspect of the team’s chances, Schlabach remains bent on looking ahead no further than the next practice or game.So, has the discussion of a repeat title gone unchecked by the Hawks this year?Something like that can hardly go unmentioned.“We’ve talked about it a little bit, but right now that just can’t be our focus,” said Schlabach. “It’s such a long way off. It’s a goal, but for us, it is about trying to figure out who we are as a team. With graduation and injuries, we are trying to see where we fit. We’ve got to figure that out, and we have a long way to go. Fortunately, we have all season to figure things out.”The one aspect of moving on from last year’s championship season was graduation. Schlabach and his staff knew going into the year that seniors Noah Boyd, Braden Conn and Jalen Miller would all be missed.Schlabach said that what people didn’t realize about the trio was the leadership which they brought to the team. All three were vital to the building process that the team underwent last year.“We’ve got great leadership again this season,” said Schlabach. “That is a real positive for us. The biggest unknown right now is our depth. We did before Luke went down, and now we have to have some guys who haven’t played a lot of minutes of varsity basketball who need to step up and perform. They’ll need to prove that they belong.”That may mean fewer fast breaks, especially without the uber-quick Burch and his ability to race a ball up floor. Schlabach said that a patient half court offense will be present this year, and that kind of game plan will more than likely put them out of their comfort zone, at least for a while, as they search for that perfect complement to their talents and skills.It will be much like last season, when Schlabach went from running 10 guys in and out of the game to a philosophy based on hard-nosed defense. The focus on defense will not change this year, and Schlabach said that because of the lack of depth, defense will play an even bigger role.With the return of two All-Ohioans in Dylan Kaufman and Seger Bonifant, and the steadfast leadership of point guard Jason Miller, who treated the ball like a chunk of gold last season in the way he took care of the rock, combined with the return of 6-foot-7 center Neil Gingerich, who proved at State last season that he could be a real force, and people automatically think everything is in place to win it all again.But it isn’t necessarily the offense that Schlabach worries about, but rather the defense, and the defensive presence of the trio of seniors now gone from the roster.“As coaches, we realize that we lost probably our three best defenders last year,” said Schlabach. “We don’t have a charge record here at Hiland, but if we did, Jalen would be at the top of the list. Braden just flat out shut down the other team’s best guard every night, and Noah could guard four positions, and he changed the way teams came into the lane. People don’t realize how versatile he was defensively.“As a coach, you can find ways to replace scoring. We will find ways to replace that scoring, but right now, we are still trying to figure out how to replace them defensively.”And when it comes to heart and toughness, few players exemplified it more than Miller, whose fervent play and resolve on the floor made his team better.“All three of those kids were tough,” said Schlabach of his graduates. “Jalen was an unbelievable leader because of his toughness. Braden had a real grit to him, and Noah, people saw this long, lean kid, but Noah probably played hurt more than anybody I have ever coached. He is one of the toughest players we have ever had.”And so the burden of providing that grit, determination and spirit for this year’s team falls on the shoulders of several players off the bench who don’t have much experience at the varsity level. Seniors Cameron Miller and Cody Gerber, and sophomore Todd Ropp will be asked to develop those qualities - qualities that will not help the team win in terms of points on the scoreboard, but rather in hustle, inspiration and defense.“They got to bring that toughness and grit, with things like taking charges and getting on loose balls,” said Schlabach. “They don’t need to score, they just need to contribute in other ways.”Schlabach said in terms of replacing the leadership, point guard Jason Miller, while not vocal, has a presence that, when he is on the floor, everyone out there defers to him, and his ability to take control and make sure the ball gets to where it needs to be. He is also a relentless defender. Kaufman’s athletic abilities make him a typical go-to guy, and a non-stop motor makes for plenty of highlights. Schlabach said he will lead by example, as he never stops playing hard.Bonifant has become the team’s vocal leader, not afraid to get up in a teammate’s face when they aren’t doing their job. “We’ve got kind of a three-headed leader out there,” said Schlabach. “Dylan leads by example, Seger is our vocal leader and Jason is just this calming factor for us, always in control.”While they could plan on the loss of the seniors, what they couldn’t foretell was the catastrophic injury of senior guard Luke Burch, who tore his ACL in the alumni game just nights before the season opener against West Homes.Dealing with that loss is a completely different story. Schlabach said that the Hawks’ worst practice of the season came on the day following the announcement that Burch would watch the season in street clothes.While Burch would have been instant offense off the bench for the Hawks, and would have starred on many teams, Schlabach said the loss is more than just points.“That has been really tough on the kids,” said Schlabach on the loss of Burch for the year. “You can prepare yourselves for the loss of the graduating seniors. Replacing the seniors from last year we could deal with because we knew they would be gone. This one comes out of nowhere. Luke would have probably led us in scoring a third of our games. But more importantly, he created such a match-up advantage for us. He was an impossible match-up for other teams because of his quickness. Few teams are blessed with a kid like Luke. He was just figuring out what it takes to be a really good basketball player.”Picking up some of that slack will be senior guard Chaise Gerber, who is starting at guard opposite Jason Miller. The rest will come by committee.Add into the mix of pressures a schedule which Schlabach calls “impossible,” with the likes of Brookhaven, Worthington Christian, Orrville, St. Vincent St. Mary, GlenOak and some tough Inter-Valley Conference match-ups, and it’s easy to see why it is so tough to repeat.Still, Schlabach said that the Hawks have a full slate of games to prepare themselves for the coming tournament second season. He, his staff and the team will take nothing for granted. Pressure?It’s a group of young men, playing a game they love, knowing that soon there will be other real-life pressures they will have to deal with. So for now, they will simply enjoy the pressure being placed upon them.“All of that pressure, we can deal with that,” said Schlabach. “That is what eventually will help us get better. But the one thing I don’t like is when people around here look at this and think that what these kids do is easy, because it is not. Yes, they have a lot of talent, but what they are able to do on the court is the result of a lot of hard work. Even with that, every night out here is tough. People probably don’t recognize the pressure that is put on these kids from a community standpoint. “But that is also what makes this fun. We have 1,600 people that come out to watch every game, and with the pressure, you get the bad and you get the good. Our kids learn to deal with that.”Schlabach said that the staff often talks to the players about dealing with those pressures, and also about how fortunate they are to have the opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd who cares deeply and is passionate about their team.From the facilities to the support, Schlabach said that the players have an incredible opportunity to perform and enjoy something that is very special.He also said that Bonifant has also been instrumental in talking to the players about how fortunate they are, and about the opportunities that lie before them, which don’t come along every day.So, the team views the pressure heaped upon them, from a demanding community, to the duress of having every team taking aim at knocking off the top team in Div. IV in the state, to the pressure they put on themselves, as an opportunity.“We’re not going to complain about it,” said Schlabach with a laugh. “We just have to deal with it, and we will. It’s a great group that enjoys being around each other, and have grown up together. It’s a very cohesive group, and we don’t have to worry about team chemistry with these guys.”Pressure?When you enjoy where you are in life, doing something you love, with guys you get along with so well, how much pressure can there be?